The Blood That Binds Us
by Mizar and Alcor
Summary: Organized crime is sweeping across the Galaxy, and with one slip up, Captain Gantu is put into a scenario he would much rather avoid. With a criminal gang threatening to take over the Galactic Empire and a worried Grand Councilwoman, who fears her Captain will fail, she has no choice but to seek outside help. But this is not what Gantu has in mind... Eventual Gantu/OC. Cover by me.
1. Chapter 1: Just a complete failure

Chapter 1: Just a complete failure

WARNING: This story is rated T for a reason. The following reasons being: Language, violence, adult themes and situations.

Authors note: Well, hey guys! This is my first fanfic in over a year. I've recently got back into the swing of writing and boy does it feel good! Unlike my previous stories, I have taken a new approach to make sure that I update regularly. I am writing chapters in advance so that I do not fall behind. I will post them every other week so that I can give you guys the opportunity to read a chapter and review it if you wish to. Lately I have rediscovered a childhood favourite of mine. Lilo and Stitch (the films and the show) were practically my childhood. And my favourite characters were always Gantu and Reuben (and Jumba and Pleakley). I have also seen that Gantu doesn't get much love on Fanfiction, so I took it upon myself to do my own story of him. This story is set 5 years after the events of Leroy and Stitch when Gantu and Reuben have a successful 5 year career in the Galactic Alliance. I prefer to think of the Anime show as a non-existing factor of the Lilo and Stitch franchise (since Chris Sanders has already confirmed it non-canon), so I will not be making any connection to that in my story. I will however, be making regular references to the events of the show and the movies up to the end of Leroy and Stitch.

And with that note, have fun reading my story!

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><p>'Ohana means family, and family means no one gets left behind or forgotten'. Those words actually had a very powerful meaning behind them. The girl who once used to preach it had started out with a broken family, yet she remained content with what she had and welcomed new people (or should we say aliens) into her 'ohana'. Of course the term 'ohana' basically meant your typical everyday family who enjoyed each other's company by sitting in front of the TV together or going out for a meal. It hardly had that kind of meaning for the likes of Captain Gantu of the Galactic Alliance. He was a tall, gruff alien with an unusual reputation which he had somehow gained over the past few years. He had gone from being a highly respected Captain of a highly skilled crew, to being 'retired' by the Grand Councilwoman when he took the law into his own hands and jeopardized a (<em>supposedly secret<em>) mission with his wild antics. Then he turned to being the villain, which did not fit him very well, to finally being reinstated to his original position once again. All in the time frame of 4 years. During this time he had lived on the planet known as Earth, serving as the poor pitiful slave to Dr. Jacques Von Hämsterviel. Being stuck on the primitive planet with a broken down ship and a flawed and lazy genetic experiment for company, Gantu certainly didn't think that it was the highlight of his chosen career path. Gantu had been the Captain of the Galactic Armada only to be reduced to an errand boy (alien) for a hacked off rodent who claimed he was hamster-like when it was pretty clear he was actually gerbil-like. He was forced to put up with Hämsterviel's verbal abuse with every time he had attempted and failed to catch one of Dr. Jumba Jookiba's evil genetic experiments. And, like the fool he was, he tolerated it! Back when he was a Captain he would have never tolerated such behaviour without either arresting or seriously damaging the person who assaulted him in such a manner. And he would have done it with physical violence. Gantu was probably the last person you would want to challenge to fight in a bar, since he was a Shaelek, a species well-known for being militarily dominant and rather bulky as well as aggressive. However the truth was, deep down, Gantu wasn't bad at all. That was why he let the trog, aka experiment 626 (known to everybody as Stitch), and his little female Human companion, Lilo, walk all over him and beat him in the battle to catch the experiments. At any time he could have squished the little Earth girl and wiped Stitch out with his blaster, but he could never find the courage to do so. It was not just his good nature that stopped him from doing this, it was also, jealousy. He was jealous of Lilo and Stitch because they had something which he hadn't had for such a long time... a loving family to return home to.

Of course, after the incident involving the Leroy clones, Gantu finally mustered up the courage to stand up for himself and turned against his former employer when he figured that he was merely a puppet in a game he had lost for so long. Hämsterviel had treated him like crap for too long and had used him till he was no longer needed. It was at this time that he realized that what Lilo had done was actually right and made the big decision to help her and her team of good experiments to defeat those clones. This decision had paid off for Gantu and had determined his future for the better. He got reinstated as Captain, after Stitch declined the job in order to return to Earth with his family. Experiment 625, aka Reuben, who had been stuck with Gantu for over 3 years, was also offered a job in the Galactic Alliance, but not by the Grand Councilwoman. Gantu admitted that he had grown rather fond of the small sandwich making experiment and had made a bargain with the Grand Councilwoman to make him his Galley Officer. Reuben had accepted this offer without hesitation. Because, like all of his cousins on Earth, he had found the one true place he belonged. With Gantu.

5 years on from the point they had been marked Captain and Galley Officer, Gantu and Reuben were as close as ever before. The pair had gained quite a reputation of being 'best pals in and out of service' and Gantu's crew were considered one of the best in the entire galaxy! Compared to all of his failures during his time on Earth, Gantu had changed dramatically with his approach while on duty as Captain. His security force was formidable and he had not lost a single prisoner or had any escapees since he was reinstated. Of course he had a few close calls, but hey, who doesn't? His job was going great! He had a great friend who always helped cheer him up in and out of work, and most of all, he had a great career and reputation going!

So yes, in some ways Gantu did have an ohana. He considered his crew and Reuben to be his little family since he had no proper family to call his own. It was an unusual sort of family for some. But Gantu was content. He had a different kind of ohana.

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><p><em>Location: Crab Nebula, Creb quadrant, south of the planet Yuluh. <em>

"All security to converge to the Deck C prison block. Escapee in progress. Deadly force **not** authorized, fire to stun. Repeat, fire to stun!"

Gantu was face palming hard. He was sat on his space ship, the BRB 11,000, on his high commanding chair on the main bridge with some of his operating crew working vigorously to each and every command he gave. On the monitor screen above his two main technical Officers was a display of live footage being shown of a prisoner escaping out of the prison block. He watched as the said escapee was trying his best to burn through a door with an acid gun he had somehow managed to obtain from one of the weapon bays. He was a big fellow, almost as big as Gantu and had three times the strength of the security Officers converging to face him. His three beady red eyes occasionally scowled up towards the camera, knowing full well he was being watched. The whole ship was on high alert, alarms were ringing in every corner and all of the crew were rushing about frantically to do their jobs. Yet they all remained calm and attentive to their tasks. No one was panicking... well except the Captain of course. Mentally, Gantu was on melting point. He hadn't lost a prisoner since the escape of experiment 626, so of course he had forgotten what stresses an escaping convict could have on the main person in charge. In this particular case, he was that person. Gantu's heart was racing like it had never done before. He knew his Officers were good, but even he could figure out that they did not stand a chance against such a big opponent. It was a miracle that they had even managed to capture him in the first place. It took the combined strength of Gantu, his security crew and the strengths of his noble Galley Officer Reuben (who was well known for carrying three thousand times his own weight) to take the guy down. The prisoner was a well known crook, turned mob gangster called Zellious Glornack. He had just been captured on the planet of Yuluh, caught right in the act of dealing illegal space steroids to young children. This was the kind of scum Gantu had to collect and take back to Turo for trial and imprisonment. And boy did it feel good to lock them all up. But with Mr. Glornack, this was not an ordinary capture and imprisonment. Gantu had encountered him before. A year before he had been retired in fact. The first time this prisoner had been arrested he was not as strong, well not compared to how he was at present, meaning he didn't put up as much of a fight. As Gantu recalled from his past experience, he was able to apprehend the big brute himself. However, this time it was different. Zellious Glornack was even bigger and tougher than ever before. He couldn't be contained or kept under control. He was always on a raging rampage. That was what illegal space steroids did to a guy.

"I want all deck guns re-routed to lock on his genetic signature," Gantu commanded his technical crew who were frantically pushing buttons and typing all sorts of codes and coordinates into the ship's main computer. "Perhaps we can stun him long enough for him to be captured by the security."

"Yes sir," one of his crew responded before doing as instructed. The female armadillo-looking alien named Officer Armilia suddenly paused and stopped obeying her Captain's orders before passing a glance to the Officer sat next to her. Both then looked up at their Captain with a slight concern. "Sir?"

"What is it?" Gantu's eyes shifted expecting something bad to be reported.

"The prisoner has just breached the door. He's heading towards the shuttle bay."

"Blitznak!" Gantu cursed aloud slamming his fist on the arm of his seat in frustration. He then grabbed his microphone once again to give the order to his security who were now approaching Deck C. "Captain to security, convict is heading to shuttle bay. Deadly force now authorized. Fire on sight!"

"Roger that Captain," one of the security Officers' voices came through as a response.

Amidst the mayhem Gantu remained seated, keeping his gaze firmly on the monitor screen which was receiving footage from a camera which followed the fleeing convict as laser beams began to shoot past him at a excessive speed. The security guards were gaining upon him. But as Gantu feared, not in enough time. He wondered how many casualties this prisoner had caused so far and how many more were about to happen. His Chief of security had already been knocked unconscious by this scaly green brute. How many more of his Officer's was Glornack willing to take out? Gantu's gaze was briefly taken off of the monitor as the bridge door automatically opened and a well-known Officer entered. Dressed in a small red suit with yellow cuffs and buttons, as well as a black and gold belt complete with a red hat, complete with a black cap. It was his trusty Galley Officer, Reuben, and he immediately rushed to the side of his best friend with a very frantic and confused, yet concerned, expression attached to his tiny face.

"Gantu, what in the Horse Head Nebula going on?"

"Escaped convict," Gantu placed a hand to his temple, obviously stressed and wishing the whole situation to go away. "Seems like Mr. Zellious Glornack did not take to the sedatives we gave him. He's just breached our security, tried to kill our Chief and several other security crew and is on his way to the shuttle bay. Plus he is armed with a acid blaster he obtained from the weapons bay."

"Oh, Blitznak," Reuben muttered to himself as he followed Gantu's gaze onto the monitor showing the escaped convict battle with security. "Can I do anything?"

"Negative," Gantu shook his head, almost admitting defeat at this point. "By the time you get down there he will be gone."

"So, what do we do?" Reuben queried. Before Gantu could respond to what Reuben had said, the monitor feed suddenly went static when a security Officer was hurled at the camera by the brutish out of control criminal. The whole bridge then went deathly silent and all eyes turned upon their Captain. Gantu held his breath and then let out the biggest exhale he had ever done.

"We... hope for a damn miracle."

That miracle never came. Glornack had managed to escape Gantu's security crew, not without knocking half of them out first, and hotwire a police shuttle before blasting into space. He was surprisingly clever for such an alien powered on nothing but nasty space steroids and thick green mouldy skin. Of course it was not over yet. There was always the pursuing crew located in various smaller ships outside the BRB 11,000. But Gantu had already determined how this was going to go down. It was just like the time experiment 626 had escaped his custody. That was an embarrassing moment in Gantu's Galactic career, and now it was happening again but with a bigger criminal. So much for Gantu's superb record. That was now flying out of the shuttle bay along with the escapee. Oh how was he going to explain this to the Grand Councilwoman? What would she think of him for losing yet another criminal. Would be retired again or downgraded to a lower position? That was the only problem with working for the Galactic Alliance. It was so easy to break the rules and get fired or downgraded. But surely one criminal escaping wouldn't jeopardize his job... would it? Well, judging by the events of what had happened all of those years ago with Stitch, perhaps it could.

"Pursue Commander to Captain Gantu. Come in Captain Gantu," a voice came through the speakers at the front of the ship. Gantu swiftly stood up and reached down for the microphone once again in order to respond to the pursuing Commander.

"This is Captain Gantu," Gantu cleared his throat as his eyes shifted to the window as the police pursuit with the escaping convict was taking place. "Go ahead."

"He's somehow hacked the security code and is using the secure weapons in that ship," the pursuing Commander spoke, the sounds of lasers and explosions echoing in the background. "He's one heck of a smart guy to do that!"

"Keep up the pursuit," Gantu ordered "and make sure he does not engage his-"

"Um, sir?" Officer Armilia interrupted rather urgently.

"What?!" Gantu spat unintentionally. Armilia trembled a little at the way the Captain had spoke to her. When Gantu was under pressure he tended to get very aggressive and unpredictable. That was all a part of his characteristics as a Captain.

"He's just engaged his H drive."

"Double Blitznak!" He fumed, cursing in his native tongue repeatedly under his breath. Gantu rubbed his temple again roughly with his large hand before proceeding to stand and grab the microphone near the wall. He then put the microphone to his mouth again and ordered his pursuing crew to clear away from the convict's ship. The last thing he needed was more casualties from this pursuit. "Pursue Commander, de-clear that ship! It's about to engage its hyper-drive! I repeat, de-clear that ship!"

"Aye Captain," the pursue Commander responded calmly. Suddenly a rush of light in the distance shone intensely through the bridge window. It was then followed by ripples of distortion which briefly shifted the ship off course. The convict had engaged his hyper-drive and was now in deep space. Nothing else could be done other then track him and re-arrest him at a later stage. The Captain was obviously angered and disappointed with himself and his crew for letting the famous criminal Zellious Glornack escape so easily. Gantu stood, his bulky arm leaning on the core iron wall as he pressed his head against it in some sort of frustration while he still held his microphone in his right hand. He clenched his teeth and dropped the microphone down so it was now swinging rapidly below Gantu's waist. He then placed his other hand on the cool metal wall which served as the inner shell of the ship and tapped all three of his bulky fingers against it in order to let off some steam. He stood there for several moments, without movement or sound, before he finally took a deep breath which was swiftly followed with his head falling from his arm to gazing at the floor in defeat. The bridge went deathly silent again and the crew exchanged awkward glances and gestures. The two technical Officers, Armilia and Hermi, who dealt with all of the coordinates and controls in the rest of the ship, decided it was time to turn off the constant and irritating alarms which continuously echoed throughout the ship. Everyone knew this pursuit was over. Reuben daringly stepped forward and went to pat Gantu's leg encouragingly. But before his yellow paw could touch the big shark-like alien's stump of a leg, he hesitantly held back as Gantu finally made a movement after moments of deathly silence.

Reuben wasn't the only one stunned by Gantu's sudden and unexpected outburst. Gantu was that frustrated he let out a huge groan and proceeded to slam his large fist into the metal wall. Needless to say, it made a rather large dent. Reuben's ajar face and widened eyes made him tentative to speak. But Reuben was not afraid of Gantu. He was far from it. Reuben was the only one who could push Gantu's buttons and live to see the next day. It was not only his indestructible capabilities which helped him here, but also Gantu's ego. He knew Gantu would never be capable of hurting him. He cared too much for him to do that. Knowing that no one else was willing to say a word to the raging Captain, Reuben finally decided to break the ever growing deadly silence.

"Gantu, I'm sure-" Reuben began calmly. He then instantly closed his mouth and looked down at the floor awkwardly after Gantu shot him a cold glare.

"Shut it!" Gantu snapped wildly at his Galley Officer before turning to leave the bridge "I've had it with all this. I am not to be disturbed unless the Grand Councilwoman calls. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir!" Everyone on the bridge said in unison as quickly as possible.

Everyone watched as Captain Gantu aggressively stormed out of the room. With every large step he took, vibrations rattled throughout the floorboards. Reuben's eyes dimmed down as he watched his best friend leave the room. He had not seen him like this in a very long time. In some ways it saddened him. It was only fun to see Gantu like this when he was being teased. Not when his responsibilities backfired in his face. And being spoken to in that tone broke Reuben's tiny heart. He was Gantu's best friend. The two always spoke with such pleasantries (or un-pleasantries every time Reuben teased him) and the pair were pretty much inseparable. Sure, Reuben had watched and mocked Gantu's failures on Earth every time he lost an experiment to Lilo and Stitch, but this was completely different. This was Reuben's first time seeing Gantu fail at a job he was really good at. And it hurt him to see his friend like this.

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><p>For several hours Gantu had confined himself to his quarters. He was still extremely frustrated with the whole situation which had happened earlier. It was his first big failure in 5 whole years. And for some reason, it brought back all of the bad memories of his employment with Dr. Hämsterviel. He had even imagined what he would be saying right now if he had witnessed the escape of his fugitive.<p>

_"Oh look, you've failed again you fool of a fish-headed minion!"_ Just thinking of those words sent repeated shivers down the back of Gantu's large spine. He felt like a huge failure. And it wasn't his crew he blamed at all. It was just himself.

Gantu curled himself into a ball shape on his rather large double bed at the end of his cabin. He remained in this position for a very long time. His thoughts constantly driven on how much of a failure he was and what accomplishments he had not achieved in his life. He was now considering what life would have actually turned out like if he had remained on his home planet instead of enrolling for the Galactic Armada. Would it have turned out better? If he had stuck with the Shaelek police force instead of being ambitious, would he have accomplished more? Probably not. It was not in him to accomplish anything. Like Reuben had once told him after hearing his life story, his life was a "boring failure".

Gantu clenched his eyes shut and just pressed his legs tighter to his stomach as he repositioned himself on the bed. He continued to mope away for several more minutes before a sudden knock at his door disrupted him from his depressing thoughts.

"Who is it?" Gantu snapped rudely, not breaking away from his current position.

"It's me," a small voice from the other end of the door spoke out. Gantu instantly recognized the voice and opened his eyes.

"What do you want Reuben? You come to gloat about my boring failures?"

There was a pause, obviously Gantu's response had stunned his small companion. Reuben had no idea of what Gantu was thinking, let alone the grudges he still had on him from their past conversations from years before. "No," finally came a response. "I came to see if my bestest pal in the whole galaxy was alright."

"Well he isn't," Gantu retorted rather harshly before turning over on the bed "go away."

"Oh yeah? Well... what if I don't want to go away?" Reuben questioned rather boldly. Gantu re-opened his eyes and shot up after hearing this. Whenever Reuben got into this frame of mind, Gantu knew he would never win. At times the little experiment was very persistent. Gantu knew it was his concern which kept him like this, and he admired that greatly. That had shown him that he was a true friend.

Reuben was surprised when the door shot open moments after he had refused to go away. His head instantly shot up to the head height of Gantu, who now stood, arms crossed, in front of him.

"Then I'll pummel you!" Gantu protested. Reuben smirked and his tense nature instantly wore off.

"Ummm, in case you have forgotten fish-flanks, I am indestructible," Reuben remarked flexing both of his arms teasingly "and besides, you don't have the guts to pummel your best sandwich making pal. Oh, which reminds me," he then pulled out a plate from behind his back and placed it before Gantu "I made you an egg salad sandwich. You know... your favourite."

Gantu remained firm. He wasn't in the mood to be mocked further by Reuben. Not today. He knew his friend meant well, but he wasn't in the frame of mind to handle it after the day he had just had. Reuben noticed his friend's stubbornness and continued to press the sandwich closer and closer. Refusing the budge, Gantu finally spoke, much to his friend's sorrow.

"I'm not hungry," Gantu then proceeded to walk back into his room. He did not bother to close the door as he knew Reuben would only pester him further if he did anyway. Reuben followed of course. Gantu simply sat on his bed and held his hands together as he looked down at the floor glumly. Reuben climbed the bed and sat beside his companion.

"Look," Reuben placed a tiny hand on Gantu's arm comfortingly "what's up? You can talk to me! I hate it when you shut me out like this."

Gantu let out a gruff yet depressed sigh as he then gazed back at his experiment companion. "I don't know. I guess I've felt off for a couple of weeks. Today was just the tip of the asteroid, if you get my meaning."

"Uh huh," Reuben nodded getting the expression instantly. "What's on your mind Chief?"

"I'm not sure," Gantu began as he stood up and headed towards the large window at the end of his room. He gazed out of it longingly as his companion continued to sit on the bed and watch him from a distance. The Crab Nebula was very visible from the view. Gantu's glowing blue eyes were almost dazzled by the way the various colours of the gases reflected into them. It was so calm, so... mesmerizing. The universe had many natural wonders which made his job all the more beneficial. However, sightseeing was not a part of his job. Being a leader of a respectable crew was. And today he had failed. This made gazing out into space seem like a getaway from the troubles inside his head. "I guess... I just want something different."

"Like?" Reuben arched an eyebrow in confusion.

"A change from our daily routine. My life had always been full of failure and misery. Even when I was younger and living at home I never fitted in with anyone. I love my job and I love my crew. You're all like my family. But I need a change from it all. Something new in my life. I don't know what. I guess it's just the miserable failure in me realizing that this job wasn't built for me." Gantu then turned his head away from the window and his eyes shifted to his feet. "Perhaps being a Captain is a position I was not fit to be in."

Reuben, as always, listened closely to his friend as he moped about his life. He had done this many times in the past. And usually he would reply sarcastically or would mock Gantu further, but today was completely different. His friend was majorly depressed and was accusing himself of completely false and ridiculous accusations. Reuben knew that he would have to get his friend to snap out of it. "Are you kidding?" Reuben began as he leapt off of the bed and walked over to his larger companion. "You call 5 years of perfect service a complete failure? Sure you had a rough patch today, but hey, who doesn't? YOU my friend are the best Captain of the Galactic Alliance I know of. No one could do your job better. And trust me on this buddy, I know many aliens back at Turo who would kill for your job. But not one of them has the stuff to be Captain like you. You've got all the stuff and more! So cheer up!"

"I can't though," Gantu shook his head again "I keep thinking of all my failures back on Earth. I now realize why I let the little trog and Earth girl walk all over me and let Hämsterviel assault me all of those times."

"Is it because your buttookie is too soft?" Reuben joked chuckling slightly.

"Something like that," Gantu responded dimly. He then stepped away from the window and began to pace about the room. "Oh, what is the Grand Councilwoman going to think of me?"

"I'm sure she'll understand and give you a second chance to capture him," Reuben encouraged following Gantu about the room. "Surely she must understand that everyone slips up every now and then."

Gantu stopped and looked down at Reuben with the tiniest smile appearing on his softened features "Oh Reuben," he began "if only I could think as positively as you." He then bent down to pat Reuben on the head as his smile grew. "Thank you by the way. I appreciate you trying to cheer me up."

"Hey, what are pals for?" Reuben grinned then swatted away Gantu's hand in protest to being smothered. "Hey, hey! Watch the hat!"

"Sorry," Gantu drew his hand back and simply gazed upon his little friend with a much more content expression. He felt slightly happier after his conversation with Reuben. And even though the little sandwich making fiend could be a real pain in the butt at times, he always knew what to say to cheer his old friend up.

Just then, a cracking sound came through the speakers at the other end of Gantu's cabin. It was from the bridge. About a second after the cracking sound had began, a voice came though the other end. And the voice was about to speak words that Gantu was not particularly fond of hearing.

"Sir, forgive the intrusion," the voice began. Gantu arose from is crouched position and headed over to the wall to speak into the wall-installed microphone.

"Go ahead Officer Hermi."

"Well," the voice paused for a moment, the pause was brief but awkward, obviously the Officer was finding the best way to break the sudden news to his superior Officer. "We have the Grand Councilwoman on the communicator. She requires your presence on the bridge, immediately."

Gantu briefly took his hand off of the microphone and muttered a certain cursing. "Bitznak." He then re-pressed his hand on the microphone and responded, rather professionally, to his Officer on the other end. "Tell her I will be right there."

"Aye sir," came the final response. Gantu slipped his hand off of the microphone and breathed in deeply. He looked down at Reuben who returned his solemn stare.

"Well Reuben," Gantu paused as his small yellow companion climbed onto his shoulder "guess we'd better go face the fire."

"Yeah," Reuben then nudged Gantu's head encouragingly with his tiny paw "but we'll do it together."

"Thanks buddy," Gantu tilted his head and nudged Reuben in return as the pair exited the cabin to head to the main bridge. He was about to face a fear he did not wish to face. But having such a loyal companion like Reuben along with him, provided some comfort for the big alien Captain. And If, in worst case, he were to lose his job and credibility after this fiasco, he would always have his ohana (even if that were just Reuben). And as a young girl once told him "a ohana is the greatest gift of all."

* * *

><p>Upon entering the bridge, Gantu grimaced slightly when he saw a very stubborn Grand Councilwoman await, rather impatiently, for his arrival on the main monitor at the front of the ship. Gantu rushed, rather calmly, to his seat and cleared his throat as he addressed the Grand Councilwoman with as much of a professional manner as he could possibly muster.<p>

"Grand Councilwoman," Gantu began holding back the rising lump at the back of his throat. He was rather nervous about facing her since she looked very cross about the whole situation. He wasn't sure on how to continue his sentence. But luckily for him, he didn't have to wait long. The Grand Councilwoman herself quickly jumped into the conversation.

"Captain Gantu," she began, placing her slender green hands together proudly "I am aware of the escape of the prisoner, Mr. Zellious Glornack. I trust you are aware of the consequences of his escape?"

Gantu rubbed his temple and huffed slightly "Yes ma'am," Gantu then feared the worst. He had a feeling that she would no doubt strip away his authority and make him the laughing stock of the Galactic Empire. This had happened too many times in his life.

The Grand Councilwoman's brow shifted in confusion as her Captain was practically admitting defeat before her. This was rather unlike him to be sure. The extremely large alien she had taken on as her Captain of the Galactic Armada never gave up, under any circumstances. He was always one of the more rambunctious Officers in her forces. And though the Grand Councilwoman knew Gantu's species to be a gruff and overly-aggressive kind of sort, she knew Gantu could be trusted. But today, he just didn't seem right. She figured it was his pride being hurt after his defeat. And let's not forget that the last time a prisoner had escaped his custody, he was retired for being too erratic with his actions. The Grand Councilwoman's greenish eyes squinted slightly and her head tilted to its side as she spoke with a very unsure tone in her respectable voice. "Captain, you are taking this rather too calmly. I know this must be difficult for you to grasp, but I need to make myself clear. There is much to this that you are unaware of, and the consequences of your actions today have cost the Galactic Federation more than you could possibly begin to comprehend. Therefore I have no choice but to-"

Gantu suddenly slammed his fist down on his seat which made the Grand Councilwoman jolt in surprise and stop talking. Gantu then arose with a fuming look on his face. He pointed directly into the monitor and spoke in a tone he had never spoken to his superiors' before in his life. "You know what? Forget it! Fire me for all I care! I do one thing wrong after 5 years of excellent service and it's all 'bye, bye Mr. Gantu! Don't forget your pay check on your way out!' Well I've had it with all of that. So you can take my Captain's badge and stick it right up your-"

"CAPTAIN GANTU!" The Grand Councilwoman bellowed cutting him off in mid sentence. Gantu immediately shut his mouth and instantly regretted what he had just said. "I am not accustomed to being spoken to in that manner."

Gantu didn't know what had come over him. He could not explain his actions for speaking in such a way to his superior leader. Mentally cringing at what he had just said he thought to himself _'shit, I've really stepped my over-large foot in it now. Nice going big dummy!' _And now he was referring to himself with the nickname he had been given by the little Hawaiian girl when they were enemies. What in this galaxy was wrong with him today? He certainly wasn't the normal moody self he usually was. And now he was probably going to be fired for sure. No one, not even the criminals on trial, spoke to the Grand Councilwoman like that.

"G-Grand Councilwoman," Gantu finally stammered very slowly, trying to be cautious with his wording. "I apologise. Today has been a very rough day and I did not mean-"

"Silence!" She commanded. "I understand you anguish Captain Gantu, but that is no excuse to take it out on me. Therefore you are to return to Turo immediately where I can speak to you face to face and make you aware of the full situation before you."

"B-but," Gantu argued before giving it up "yes ma'am."

"Good," she simply put. Her green wrinkles becoming less evident on her face as her features softened to the troubled Captain. She no longer seemed angry, shocked or even insulted with what the Captain had rudely said. Instead she looked rather... pitiful. "You have a lot of potential Captain, you have proved this time and time again. Don't let your disappointments get the better of you. I don't wish to see one of my finest Officers be reduced to nothing. I will await your arrival at Turo tomorrow afternoon. Report to me as soon as you arrive. From there we will discuss your future and the full situation of Mr. Glornack's escape."

And with that, the monitor went static. Gantu was now surprisingly calm. Not once had the Grand Councilwoman actually told him that he was fired. He had just assumed, from past experience, that he was a goner. But he would still have to face her tomorrow in person. And 'discussing his future' didn't sound too appealing. Though, he hoped it would all work out in the end. Like she had insinuated, there was no point in him being dragged down by one mistake. Captain Gantu was a fine Officer and had a formidable record over the past 5 years. Surely it would not be torn to shreds over just one criminal. Would it?

"Set a course for Turo," Gantu commanded his technical Officers.

"Aye sir," they responded in unison and did as instructed.

Gantu placed a grey bulky hand on his forehead and rested his head against his shoulder for several moments. Reuben now climbed to the arm of his chair and placed a comforting hand on Gantu's arm. He felt his pain. Today was not a good day for either of them. But it could only get better from this point on right? Reuben always tried to think positively about these situations. More for Gantu's sake than his own. But neither of them were fully aware of the situation before them. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. And something was about to change for them both. Something which would affect their careers and lives for both better and worse.

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><p>Authors note: Well that was the first chapter. Sorry if you guys expect most chapters to be short and sweet, but I always write a lot of in-depth details to try and make it as good as I can. I am also trying my best to keep all of the characters in character. I would appreciate some feedback on this. I love getting reviews. Constructive criticism is always taken positively. Thank you for reading and the next chapter will be up soon.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2: An unexpected change in plan

Chapter 2: An unexpected change in plan

Authors note: I forgot to mention in my first authors note that the cover photo for this story is on my Deviant Art account which can be located on my Fanfiction profile. Check it out if you like it! I will be posting more art work for this story in the near future so please feel free to keep an eye out on that. I will also be making many references to the events which happen in the Lilo and Stitch show throughout this story, so if you have any questions about certain references, please feel free to ask me in a review or even a message. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

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><p><em>Location:<em> _Planet Turo, Galactic Federation Headquarters._

Turo was a very large planet. It was the perfect stronghold for the Galactic Federation and its inhabitants. Of course the very large Federation building provided as a big space port for all sorts of ships from all corners of the galaxy. Over the years, Gantu and his crew had grown accustomed to returning to this planet after every mission. Their reason upon returning being the prisoners they were escorting back to the Federation for trial in front of the Galactic Council. The Grand Councilwoman would always rendezvous with the Captain and his crew to discuss the next prisoner to capture. It was an endless cycle. But it was all a part of the job. Though today was a completely different picture. Gantu was returning to the Galactic Federation, but this time, without a prisoner.

The space port section of the Federation was a very large facility, probably the size of a large Human town when comparing it to the size of the places on Earth. There were all sorts of ships, big and small flying in and out of the port every 10 seconds. The port itself was divided into a dozen platforms, each taking up separate floors on the port. And on each of these platforms were various crew workers from a vast number of different species and alien races, all of whom worked vigorously to re-fuel, repair and help provide assistance with landing and taking off of the ships that were on there. But with each ship that came into land or was preparing for takeoff, a voice operator was always making announcements to inform the other workers and crew members of the times a ship was coming or going. It was a busy place. Actually, no, busy wouldn't even cut it. Try chaotic.

"Tracker A to sector C 10," a voice called out through the speakers throughout the space port. "BRB 11,000 incoming for landing and repairs. Operators standing by for landing."

Landing the ship was no easy task, especially one as large as the BRB 11,000. Since the point where Gantu was re-instated as Captain, the ship had two separate upgrades. And with each upgrade, the ship somehow got a lot bigger. The BRB 11,000 was the biggest ship he had ever been in. And it certainly beat that tiny tin-can he was forced to stay in for over 3 years on Earth. But when it came to landing however, the BRB 11,000 had to be piloted manually by the best of the crew. It had often came to be a task Gantu himself took on board, since he was a very skilled and professional space ship pilot.

After the ship had safely landed in its dignified space, each member of the crew signed off after reporting to the Captain, and then headed out to report to the various bases around the space port zone. Gantu and Reuben were the last to leave the ship. Both groggy and tired after a lack of night's sleep, neither of them were prepared for their meeting with the Grand Councilwoman. It was never necessary for Reuben to accompany Gantu. Heck, it was never under any regulation that a Galley Officer should do half of the things Reuben did. Most Galley Officer's were never required to be of service when capturing criminals, nor were they expected to prepare sandwiches for the Captain or any security staff. But Reuben was not your average Galley Officer. He was an illegal genetic experiment and the best friend of the Captain. Therefore he did the unexpected. Even if it meant accompanying Gantu to his meetings with the Grand Councilwoman and/or (on the rare occasion) the rest of the Galactic Council.

"So, are we reporting to the Grand Councilwoman now?" Reuben questioned as the pair exited the huge space craft and headed down the ramp onto the platform. Reuben was perched on Gantu's left shoulder like a parrot. He found it much easier to keep up with him this way. Plus, despite his change in appearance and personality since he had joined the Galactic Alliance, he was still a lazy bum who enjoyed making sandwiches and napping in his spare time.

"Yes," Gantu responded plainly "she is expecting us to report to her as soon as we land."

"Can't we just stop for a sandwich first?" Reuben whined patting his stomach "I'm starving! I only ate three sandwiches this morning."

"Tough," Gantu poked his small companion in the stomach "I have only eaten a Gornish pastry all day." Gantu continued walking, now approaching the large automatic doors which led out of the port and led to the main chamber of the humungous Federation headquarters. Upon entering the huge main chamber, Gantu and Reuben had noticed how busy it was. Many Officers, all of various species, colours and sizes, bustled about doing their own duties. The majority of aliens who worked at the Galactic Federation on Turo were mainly small office workers who rarely, if ever, went on missions and had pretty simple lives. Gantu had always wondered what it was like for these workers. What was it like to have a normal life? He had been across galaxies and hundreds of different sectors catching criminals. So many in fact, that he had all-but forgotten what a normal life was like. He had once had one when he lived on his home planet. But he found that rather dull and boring. Even as a child, Gantu had always had an adventurous spirit about him. He used to play space cops, always dreaming of becoming one. And he had! Gantu had somehow achieved what few had. It was purely by luck that he got accepted into the Galactic Armada. But with that luck, he had exceeded through the ranks and made it to the top! He just hoped, with all of his might, he would keep it that way.

Reuben sulked. His friend was always like this. He never appreciated his need for sandwiches, unless it was when he wanted his precious egg salad. Crossing his arms and squeezing his eyes tightly for a brief moment, Reuben forgot he was not holding onto Gantu's tusk and suddenly lost his balance on Gantu's large shoulder. He re-opened his eyes and looked below to see that Gantu was being pushed aside by a brutish alien dressed in prison uniform being escorted by three security aliens.

"We apologise for our prisoner's rough behaviour, Captain Gantu," one of the security guards halted and addressed the Shaelek with a sense of honour.

"It's quite alright Officer," Gantu responded calmly, he shifted a scowling glare at the prisoner who smirked in mischief at the Captain. Gantu clenched his shark-like teeth together letting a small grunt escape his lips. He hated scum like that prisoner. To him, all criminals were scum. Especially Dr. Hämsterviel. Locking up the scum of the galaxy was what pleased Gantu the most about his job. Well that and the action. He was always for a laser or plasma battle every now and then. Just as long as the odds were in his favour, which, judging by his height and large muscles, usually were. He watched as the security Officers shoved the prisoner harshly forward and continued to head to the prison block. Gantu kept his cold eyes locked upon the prisoner for several more seconds before Reuben nudged him back into reality. Gantu merely swatted the poking paw of Reuben away and shook his head before continuing on is journey.

"Hey, fish breath?" Reuben continued poking him profusely, irritating the already pissed off space Captain further.

"What?" Gantu mouthed his words through clenched teeth and kept his eyes in front of him.

"You really need to take a chill pill and relax a little," Reuben teased while adjusting his hat on his weirdly shaped head. "One day, that big head of yours is gonna explode and everyone will be eating fish brains for weeks. And trust me, I won't wanna be covered in your smelly guts for anything."

Gantu finally lost it and held his right fist up to his left shoulder. He was still in motion but he had lost all sense of his surroundings in favour of pummelling his annoying experiment companion. "You little trog! I'll-!"

"HEY!" A voice cried below. Gantu paused and his head followed the small cry to his feet below. Reuben also followed the voice and climbed over Gantu's fin-like tusk to see what the commotion was about. "Watch where you're going would ya? We aren't all as big and fat as you, you know!"

Gantu's eyes widened as he almost stood on a small yellowish blob-like creature which was slowly making his way across the floor below him. He wasn't dressed in uniform like many of the other aliens. Gantu had assumed he was a just a visitor, since they were allowed in here as well as the workers. But in any case, he was very rude for someone who was addressing the Captain of the Galactic Alliance. Gantu would have objected and put his 10 Gorphik coins in if it weren't for him being rather speechless. He had not been addressed by a random alien like that for quite some time. It was kind of like a wake-up call. A nice reminder that even though Gantu had a very powerful position in the Armada, everyone could still abuse and insult him without him ever finding the courage to fight back. How come, he could fight off an entire fleet of criminal vessels, but not come up with a decent retort to some random bastard who was yelling at him? He was becoming too soft. The people back on his home planet would be ashamed of him.

There was one disadvantage of being a 21 foot tall space alien. When in places such as this, you had to watch where you were stepping. Gantu had lost count of how many people he had almost squished with his humongous feet. This was a problem he rarely had when he lived on his home world. Not many other species lived there. Shaeleks were renowned for being one of the largest known species in the galaxy. When he began as a Rookie in the Galactic Armada, he was taken way out of his comfort zone when he was forced to interact with other species of alien, not like the size of the ones on his home world. But since he had not travelled to his home planet in over 10 years, he had grown accustomed to interacting with everyone around him, each of various height and size.

Reuben suddenly grabbed the left tusk on Gantu's head and waved a hand in front of Gantu's eyes in order to get his attention again. Gantu stopped in his tracks and shook his head in disapproval. "What is it this time Reuben?"

"Hey, hey chowder chops, don't speak to me in that tone," Reuben placed both paws on his hips before his eyes shifted gleefully to the nearby shops which were set up at the end of the main hall. Each of these shops were restaurants serving meals from various different planets. And a particular one had grabbed Rueben's eager attention. He pointed his arm in the direction of the shops and Gantu's gaze followed it curiously. "Look over there!" Reuben then read the sign outside the shop aloud. "'Earth snack station, a fine selection of sandwiches and other tasty snacks from a far away planet.' That wasn't there the last time we came! I've gotta try their baloney. You know, see if it's the real deal or not."

"You made me stop for that?!" Gantu picked up Reuben and held him in front of his face. Gantu was obviously frustrated with his small sandwich obsessed companion. This was neither the time, nor the place to mess around looking at food stalls or talking about sandwiches. This was serious! Gantu often wondered if Reuben had a serious bone in his body off duty. Both of their jobs were at stake and all Reuben could talk about was sandwiches? Either he was putting off the thoughts of facing the Grand Councilwoman or... when Jumba created him, he had a huge fetish for sandwiches. Or perhaps it was both of those reasons. "Reuben," he continued, his tone completely serious and his voice rather low and raspy "I don't think you understand the complexity of this situation. Our jobs may be on the line here. You have to be serious about this or else the Grand Councilwoman won't hesitate to throw us both out into deep space, or at least into the depths of unemployment."

"I know, I know," Reuben frowned merely brushing his foot against Gantu's black uniform glumly "I guess I just don't wanna think about it. The thought of being stuck in another rust bucket with you for three more years makes me shudder to think. Let's just get this meeting over with."

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><p>"I want to say thank you for meeting with me under such short notice Captain."<p>

The office of the Grand Councilwoman was very large, larger than the main bridge on Gantu's ship. Yeah, that kind of large. It had been newly refurbished with new fancy furniture and various colour changes on the walls. Displayed on a plaque above the Councilwoman's desk were many symbols, each different in language and style. Every single one representing every planet in allegiance with the Galactic Empire. There were many. Too many for Gantu to count. The Grand Councilwoman gestured him to sit down as she spoke, and of course Gantu obliged immediately.

"It was no problem I assure you ma'am," Gantu assured. Reuben climbed down from Gantu's shoulder and perched himself on the arm rest on Gantu's large seat. The seat had obviously been designed for his species. He had guessed that the Grand Councilwoman had many chairs, each customised to the specification of a certain species. That would mean that there would be hundreds of chairs. If not thousands. Well, at least it would keep someone in long term employment.

The Grand Councilwoman placed her hands together as she sat down on her own chair. She edged forward and respectively looked upon Gantu with a professional eye. Gantu didn't know how to react. Should he smile? No, too casual. Frown? No, it would send off the wrong signals. Stare blankly? No, it would make him look too dumbfounded. In the end he just decided to sit upright and look as proud and professional as possible without looking conceited or big-headed.

"I am sure you are curious as to why I have brought you here Captain," The Grand Councilwoman spoke receiving a small nod from her Officer.

"Well, yes. I can't deny that I am." Gantu responded plainly. "Though you did say it was about the complexity of the situation regarding the escape of Mr. Zellious Glornack."

"Ah yes," the Councilwoman began. She then arose from her seat and pressed a small button on her desk. The button activated a machine above where the Grand Councilwoman was seated and a large screen began to fold outward, complete with two speakers at each side. The Grand Councilwoman then pressed another button on her desk and the screen then activated before showing a picture of the same convict which had escaped Gantu's security just yesterday. "Zellious Glornack, as you both know, is no ordinary crook. He is a level 3 criminal. A rare one at that. Starting out as a small thug, he has risen through the ranks of crime and has entered both the drug and illegal weapons trade. He has many contacts on various planets located across the galaxy." The screen then changed to a picture of the galaxy system with little red dots darted all over the map. "These red dots show the known locations where he has done trade with other criminals. We fear that Mr. Glornack is involved in a league of criminal gangs who are plotting to overthrow the Intergalactic Council, as well as enslave and overthrow the governments of countless planets, with their radical and extreme acts which would include the torture and slavery of its people."

Gantu's eyes widened up at the screen as the Grand Councilwoman continued to speak of the whole plot revolving his escaped convict. Now it all made sense. The Council had made it clear to him that there was something suspicious going on with him when they ordered his arrest. And when Gantu and his crew had located and arrested him, he was up to all sorts of suspicious activity. And by no means was Zellious Glornack a natural alien. The space steroids and other various drugs he was selling to underage aliens had messed him up catastrophically. Making him super strong and his appearance unnaturally scaly and aged. Gantu felt a slight lump in his throat as the Grand Councilwoman made him aware of the situation before him. He felt terrible. This convict was extremely dangerous, and he escaped! Gantu had let him escape! A level 3 prisoner was bad. It went up in ranks, level 1 being petty criminal, level 2 being a bit more of a challenge and level 3 being a serious threat. Gantu had only known two level 3 prisoners throughout his entire career as Captain of the Galactic Armada. That being Zellious Glornack and experiment 626. And ironically, both had escaped under his charge.

Reuben was also astonished by the events explained to him and Gantu. But his shock turned to concern as his gaze turned away from the screen and headed towards the direction of Gantu. His face said it all. The emotions of shock, sadness and guilt were all evident at once. Reuben knew this would not help Gantu's mood. To know he had failed to capture and bring such a criminal to justice would probably bring shame upon him, even in such ways where he may do something stupid, which he would regret later. The Grand Councilwoman continued to speak and changed the picture to a video showing Glornack and some other criminals involved in a high speed police chase in the middle of a busy city. Reuben looked away from the screen and grimaced slightly at the situation going on in the video. He then looked at Gantu and placed a comforting paw on his friend's arm, but Gantu was not as squeamish as Reuben and did not tear his eyes away from the screen. His brow adjusted to a way which made him looked horrified as Zellious Glornack and his other criminal brethren shot down several police cruisers and opened fire at the fleeing Officers. And to think this guy was still out there... because of him!

"This video footage was taken several weeks ago on the planet of Gultrak, east of the binary stars Mizar and Alcor. This chase resulted in the death of an Officer and the casualties of many others after Glornack, and the rest of his gang, opened fire on the pursuing police ships and shot several of them down with advanced and illegal weaponry. However, the contraband was recovered after their ship had crashed as a result of being directly hit by a plasma blast. There, the police present at the scene, recovered several boxes of advanced technology and deadly weapons stashed in the back of the small vehicle. Glornack was the only one to escape arrest. However we were able to track him to the Creb quadrant on the planet Yuluh. That of course is when we sent you in to arrest him. But since you failed to bring Zellious Glornack to justice, we now have no choice but to call for outside help."

Gantu suddenly froze. What did she mean by _'outside help'_? A bounty hunter? A vigilante? Were the council THAT desperate to capture this guy? Gantu knew from experience that the Galactic Armada frowned heavily upon those who took the law into their own hands. It often resulted in the arrest and imprisonment of that person, and the sentence was a high one. You could get at least 10 Turo cycles (meaning years), for such a 'crime'. Though Gantu could not judge people for wanting justice to be done. He himself was a trained professional, but even he had almost crossed the line by taking the law into his own hands at times. His experience on Earth with the failed capture of experiment 626 being an example of this. Gantu was never one to back down from a fight, but his losses to Jumba's evil experiments had made him feel a bit downgraded as a professional fighter.

"Excuse me Grand Councilwoman?" Gantu raised his hand slightly as the head of the Galactic Council turned her head in his general direction. She placed both hands behind her back and waited expectantly for him to continue.

"Yes, Captain?"

"Sorry for the interruption your excellence," Gantu then cleared his throat before finally questioning her "but what do you mean by the term, _'outside help'_?"

"Yeah," Reuben added "I thought you guys were against vigilantes and bounty hunters. That's kinda going against your own rules if you employ one of those suckers to go after this guy."

The Grand Councilwoman nodded in agreement to what Reuben had pointed out "you're quite right Officer Reuben," she remarked "but that is not what the Council have decided upon."

Gantu and Reuben both looked at each other in confusion. What the heck was she implying then? Those were the other alternatives outside the Galactic Alliance and planetary police forces unless you wanted to go down the illegal route. Reuben had hoped that the Grand Councilwoman would give Gantu another chance to capture this guy. He knew he was perfectly capable of doing it. What had happened was purely an accident and not even Gantu's fault. It wasn't his fault that the sedatives, which usually worked on the other criminals, did not work on Glornack. It was probably the steroids in his system which made him immune to its effects.

"Then what, if we may ask, is your alternative?" Reuben placed his paws on his hips and questioned the Councilwoman with a stern and daring tone.

She smiled and stepped down from her seat before proceeding to walk towards the chair which Gantu was seated in. Gantu suddenly became weary. The Grand Councilwoman never smiled in these situations. What was she planning in that unpredictable mind of hers? And what did it have to do with him and his crew?

"Well," she began slyly, "we have recently discovered that one planet has been looking into this gang's activity more than we have here. This planet has had a rise in its criminal activity and its police crew have been working double time to make arrests and reduce the crime rate once again. Upon this, they have had their Chief of security do interrogations as well as arrests and they have found connections to this gang's activity, on planets we were not aware of."

"So, what about this planet's police force?" Reuben shrugged "why don't you just get them to help you?"

The Grand Councilwoman simply smiled and turned her gaze onto Gantu. "Well, this planet isn't just in simple range. It is located in the Creblock system, on the eighth planet." She then noticed as Gantu's face fell and his eyes expanded past their normal capacity "Captain Gantu would recognize it."

"Sh-Shaelekar?" Gantu stammered. Reuben scratched his head in confusion. He was unaware of the planet or its connection to Gantu. Surprising, for someone as close as he was to the giant Shaelek alien.

"Your home planet," the Grand Councilwoman continued.

"Wait, what?" Reuben shifted his head rapidly between the Grand Councilwoman and Gantu. He had heard Gantu mention his home planet frequently, but never by name. This was the first time he had heard it mentioned at the Galactic Federation. And it seemed that Gantu was the only one of his species who worked for the Galactic Alliance.

The Grand Councilwoman turned towards Reuben and pointed up at Gantu "Captain Gantu was once a credible Officer in the Shaelek police force, before he applied and got accepted into the Galactic Armada. We don't usually associate ourselves with his species as their view on the law is a lot different than compared to the laws we set here. They have more... _extreme_ measures in force with the way they deal with their criminals. Something which we do frown upon, since we believe criminals are entitled to their own rights and they do not. But Captain Gantu here, was a mere Rookie when he first applied for a transfer to the Galactic Armada. We would have declined his request if he were a superior Officer or in a higher rank, but due to his lack of experience, we saw potential in Mr. Gantu. Though his ethical issues were, and still are, an example of the gruff nature he had grown accustomed to in the police force on his home planet."

"So the criminals are targeting my home planet?" Gantu questioned. The Grand Councilwoman quickly paced back up to her desk and pressed another button to show a different picture on the screen. This time it was a picture of a Shaelek Officer with a crate of highly dangerous illegal weapons.

"This picture was sent into me a couple of days ago by the police force's Commander, Commander Turak. He has reported to us that he and his Chief of security have infiltrated many smuggling operations on the planet but they fear more will be arising soon enough, and not just on their planet, but everywhere. The gangs are growing in numbers and the Commander has made it clear to me that those who have been interrogated have revealed that their superiors have a broad knowledge on security systems, advanced weapons and the technology on each of the planets they operate on. The gang members have brains in their groups, as well as contacts on each planet in order for them to smuggle all of their items through the planets' security checks."

"So," Reuben began with a puzzled tone in his voice "what does this have to do with us? Well, other than it being Gantu's home planet and one of the gang members being an escape convict of ours."

"Well, after the not-so-success of yesterday's endeavour, we have decided to contact Commander Turak of Shaelekar and ask for his advice in the matter," the Grand Councilwoman explained "he has explained to me that they know much more of the details of the gang's whereabouts and locations on other planets as well as Shaelekar. They have names, dates, confiscated contraband and the knack for getting things done."

Gantu arose from his seat. He was starting to get what the Grand Councilwoman was trying to explain. If this meant what he thought it meant, he would be making a trip to his home planet to discuss this further with the Commander. Just the thought of going back home made Gantu afraid. He had been away for so long. It would be very daunting going back and interacting with his own kind again. Yet, at the same time, it was an exciting thing. At times, especially during his time on Earth, he had missed his home world. And while working for Dr. Hämsterviel, he had considered packing in the experiment hunting entirely in order to go back home. But there was really nothing to go back to. He had no living family there and all of his former friends would have probably moved on with their lives and started families of their own. What else was there for him there? Cynta? Ha! There was no way in the fiery blasts of a Black Hole that he would take her back! He still had nightmares about that time he wished for her with that wishing experiment and saw how disgusting she had became. To think she was once his beautiful girlfriend. That showed him how much everything had changed there.

"So," Reuben interjected taking off his hat in order to scratch his head with his paw "let me get this straight. You want us to go to Gantu's home world and talk to this Commander?"

"In a way," the Grand Councilwoman responded. She then took a deep breath and urged Gantu to sit down again by sending him a gesture with her hand. He did not need to be told twice. She placed her hands together and gave Gantu a rather uneasy look. "Look Captain, I know you have had an excellent record over the past 5 years since your reinstatement, and yesterday was a mere flunk to be sure. But it was a flunk that we cannot afford. I realize that you feel that your crew is perfectly capable of taking up this task of hunting down all of these criminal gangs and bringing them to justice. But we cannot take any more chances and risk you losing anyone else under your command. Therefore, the council have decided you will have an extra crew member on your team, Captain Gantu."

Gantu's head flew backwards in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"It has all been arranged." She continued "The Commander of the Shaelek police force has informed me that his Chief of security, Chief Zettar, has been the leader of most of the arrests regarding this entire ghastly affair, and that they have obtained the required information through this one Officer in the force than any other. And since the Commander also informed me that his Chief is almost ready to qualify to becoming Chief Commander, he has decided to give his Officer the opportunity to join the Galactic Alliance as a test. Therefore, we have all agreed that Chief Zettar will accompany you on your missions to break up this criminal gang, and will also provide you with all of the required information they have managed to gain from their interrogated prisoners."

Reuben grinned in anticipation while Gantu grimaced in a slight disagreement. They were about to have another Shaelek Officer as a member of their crew? This could either turn out really good or really bad. Gantu was unsure about having another member of his species on board his ship. He knew that his species, him included, were all too dominant and were constantly challenging one another to see who was better. It was all a part of their charm. He was from a planet where war and fighting were common things. All of the males were expected to be fighters from a very early age. This is why Gantu had such a rough childhood. His father pushed him beyond breaking point to be better than everyone else.

"B-b-but your excellence," Gantu raised his finger in protest as his voice came out rather whiney "surely we do not need any more Shaeleks in my crew."

"Yeah," Reuben added distastefully, pointing his thumb at Gantu "one blubber-butt is enough."

"Y-you yourself said that you cannot trust the ones in the high positions," Gantu added "and you know how gruff and aggressive my species can be! Are you sure we can trust this guy to not cross the line?"

"The Commander has informed me that Chief Zettar has had ruthless tendencies towards prisoners," The Grand Councilwoman responded rather calmly to the argumentative Captain "but no more so than you. Besides, from what I hear of the Commander's report, Chief Zettar is a highly skilled and respectable Officer with more knowledge about weaponry and illegal doings than compared to the majority of the other Officers. I understand if you have your doubts about all of this Captain, but surely you would be willing to accept a new member on your crew. Especially after the failed attempts your security made at containing Mr. Glornack yesterday."

Gantu gave in. She did have a point. He did not want to re-live that failure ever again. Surely if this Officer had such a successful reputation back on his home planet, he would be very willing to accept the offer of his help. Besides, he heard the Grand Councilwoman mention that it was merely a test of advancing to the next rank, right? This would mean that the contract with this other Shaelek would only be temporary. Perhaps it would only be valid until all of these gangs were disbanded, arrested and put on trial. And surely that wouldn't take a few months right? Perhaps Gantu could live with another Shaelek on board his ship. Just as long as he did not challenge his authority or cause any trouble.

"Alright, Grand Councilwoman," he sighed "I will be willing to accept Chief Zettar's assistance in this matter."

"Excellent," she smiled ushering him to walk up to her desk to collect some documents she was now waving in her hand "Chief Zettar will pose as your Chief of security, since your current Chief is in hospital after being attacked by your escapee yesterday. You and your crew will prepare your ship and will leave Turo in two days to rendezvous with Commander Turak and Chief Zettar on the third moon of Shaelekar, which provides as the headquarters for their police force. Upon arriving there you will receive all the answers to your questions and the Commander will inform you of your first planetary mission. Once you succeed in this mission, you will both report to me of your progress and will bring the captive prisoners to Turo for trial."

"Yes, ma'am," Gantu grumbled slightly (as he usually did) after taking the documents his superior had just handed to him.

"Good luck Captain Gantu," the Grand Councilwoman stood placing both hands behind her back "I am sure you will make up for yesterday's fiasco with the arrests of the other known gang members. With the help of Chief Zettar, of course. You will now take your leave of me, and will prepare your ship for its next mission."

"Aye. Thank you Grand Councilwoman." Gantu then stood to attention and saluted as Reuben did the same. Gantu turned to leave the large quarters of the head of the council. Reuben followed and instantly ran towards his friend who had quickened his pace to leave the premises. Reuben leapt onto his companion and climbed aboard onto his shoulder. He studied Gantu's face with a curious eye. He looked like he was suppressing something. And by the look and ear wrenching sound of his teeth clenching together, Reuben knew that he was pissed off with the Galactic Council's decision to entrust another Officer from his home planet onto his team. But he didn't know exactly why.

After exiting the office of the Grand Councilwoman, Gantu continued to storm out of the private corridor which served as the base for all of the offices of each member of the Galactic Council. Reuben felt vibrations rattle through his entire tiny body with each gigantic step Gantu took. Reuben felt his insides churn excessively with each vibration. And after a while it began to make him feel rather queasy. He knew he would have to stop the storming Captain soon, or else he was going to he-ho all over the poop deck, so to speak.

"Hey, hey, slow down G!" Rueben pulled on one of Gantu's grey head crest-like tusks in order to get his attention "I don't think my insides can take much more of this."

"They go find another poor sucker to annoy," Gantu replied, still continuing his current pace.

"No," Reuben shook his head "not until you tell me what is making you so hacked off at the universe. Was it what the Grand Councilwoman said? I thought you'd be happy to return to your home world."

"You don't understand," Gantu muttered "you wouldn't understand what it's like on my home world."

"Well I know this much," Reuben remarked, smirking as he crossed his arms, "if all of them are as cranky as you, we're gonna have some real laughs with this new guy." Gantu suddenly stopped and placed Reuben on the ground, much to his protest. "Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?"

"Go to your sandwich shop Reuben," Gantu ordered as he turned to go in the opposite direction "I need time alone to reflect upon all of this."

Reuben watched in confusion as his gigantic friend stormed away, still sending vibrations in the floorboards. With each step, the vibrations became less and less until finally, they went away. He was now left all alone in the middle of a huge hallway with no one else around him. He wondered what all that was about. Why was Gantu making such a big deal over having an extra person in their crew? Was it that he felt like he had let everyone down? Or that people wouldn't take him seriously anymore. Reuben didn't really know. But in any case, he would just let his friend ride it out and then confront him about it later. That was always the best thing when it came to Gantu's temper.

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><p>Authors note: Well, this was chapter 2. This story will be a long one as the events will be built up gradually with each chapter. In the next chapter I will be introducing Gantu's species on his home world! And as for the name of his species 'Shaelek', I read that that was the correct name since the Lilo and Stitch wikia says so. So from this I came up with the name of his home planet through that. And as for the reference to the Creblock system, Gantu makes a brief description of his home planet when he speaks to some locals in one of the episodes of the show. I also made references to his ex-girlfriend Cynta who features in the episode 'Wishy-Washy'. She will be mentioned regularly throughout the story.<p>

Please feel free to review and give me your opinion on this story so far. I really do appreciate hearing the opinions of my readers. Thank you so much for reading and I will update this story very soon.


	3. Chapter 3: Welcome home

Chapter 3: Welcome home

Authors note: This is the first of several chapters that will be based on Gantu's home planet. I have called it Shaelekar based on his species of alien. None of the events will be taking place on the planet itself at the moment, but there will be future events which might later on in the story. Anyway, enjoy chapter 3!

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><p>There was a valid reason for Gantu's disapproval of the Grand Councilwoman's decision to partner him up with another member of his own species. Shaeleks were a species accustomed to fighting and giving orders, rather than receiving them. Both of these were things Gantu was actually good at, because even though he had been taken out of the police force at an early stage of his career, he still remembered how aggressive his superiors were. And he had aimed to be like them himself. On his home planet, if you were a weakling who could not fight, you were vulnerable to being ridiculed and seen as a coward. That is why they were so harsh on their criminals. They viewed anyone who broke the law as a weakling, not being fit to be on the planet. Because of the harsh ways they treated their prisoners, the Shaelekean government and the Galactic Federation never saw eye to eye. Of course Shaelekar was still a part of the vast Interplanetary Galactic Federation and they had their own representatives who went to Turo for the extreme trials of criminals. But the Galactic Council had refused to employ any of the Shaelek species into the Armada, as they viewed them too wild and untrustworthy. Of course at the time Gantu had applied, the Council made an exception since he was young and unaccustomed to giving orders. And though Gantu had his moments, he was redeemed trustworthy and an excellent Officer. He had proven that his species were not all that bad, by rising through the ranks at a record pace and reaching the top as Captain of the Galactic Alliance. He was the only Shaelek to ever do this. But when he had slipped up, the Council were very harsh on him about it all. Gantu still remembered the time the Grand Councilwoman made it clear to him to not disobey the Galactic Federation. <em>"If you proceed to follow the authority of those on your home planet and not of the rules we set here, you will find yourself out of the Galactic Armada, Lieutenant Gantu!"<em> Those words had soon put him back in his place.

His reasons for disliking the idea of sharing his ship with a Chief of security of the Shaelek police force was simply as put; he would be too used to giving orders rather than receiving them. And by this, Gantu would feel inferior and even threatened. Call him stupid and weird for thinking this way, but Gantu had fought long and hard (over 15 years to be precise) for his position. He was not up for being challenged by any member of his own species, let alone a powerful Shaelekean Officer in a high position, like he himself was. However, as daunting as it sounded. Having another member of his species on board his ship may prove to be a good thing. Who knows, this Chief Zettar may be a pleasant sort of fellow. He may even be willing to be friends with Gantu. That was what the Captain had hoped for at least. If he could get on with his new Chief of security, that would prove a success in not just the capturing of the criminals, but also his own personal and professional security.

Gantu had spent the next two days preparing his ship for the journey to Shaelekar. Everything had to be arranged. His ship repaired and re-painted (since Zellious Glornack's escape had damaged the ship as well as its crew), the remaining crew all de-briefed on their next mission, supplies ordered and brought onto the ship. You name it! Reuben was no particular help. He spent most of his time either at that new Earth restaurant ordering a ridiculous amount of sandwiches and blowing all of his wages away, _or_ talking to his buddies at the space port. The formerly-evil genetic experiment was surprisingly popular among some of the Federation's more active workers. Gantu couldn't imagine why. Perhaps it was his undying wit and his gossip that they were all drawn to. And of course, Gantu knew that he would be most likely talking about him. But his best friend backstabbing him was not a pressing matter on his mind right now. His new mission and his ambition to succeed had taken up most of his thoughts. He was NOT going to fail the Galactic Council a second time.

On the day of the launch, Gantu had a quick meeting with the Galactic Council, who each wished him luck with his new partner and his mission. Gantu tried to remain as calm and collective as possible, but he felt rather overwhelmed at the very thought of going back home in this sort of situation. He was not planning on making any visits to his former friends on Shaelekar itself. His goal was to meet the Commander, be introduced to this Chief Zettar, be assigned his first mission with his new partner and get on with the task at hand. It was not that he did not wish to see his former friends, but he was not keen on the idea of _'catching up'_ with anyone after he had just undergone a crisis in his line of work, which had almost cost him his job.

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><p>"Approaching the 3rd moon of the planet Shaelekar sir," Officer Hermi announced from behind the controls on his desk. All it took was a tiny glance out of the window to notice the very large planet with 3 separate moons orbiting it. The planet itself was a rather greyish colour, perhaps a reason why the Shaelek species all had grey skin. Compared to the size of the planet Earth, Shaelekar was double the size. And of course unlike Earth, it had 3 separate moons. Two of those moons were pretty much uninhabitable. One was a volcanic desert with constant eruptions taking place and the other a vast sea of gases and toxic waste. The other moon however, was in fact the place the BRB 11,000 was destined for. The police headquarters for the planet, on one big moon. It was the biggest of the three natural satellites orbiting the extra large planet. And of course, from the view of the window, a lot of small dots that could be made out as other ships made their ways in and out of the moon's main space port.<p>

Captain Gantu sat in his high commanding chair and just swatted his hand as a signal for the Officer's to make preparations for landing. He hadn't slept well, again, so he was still groggy and irritable. He wasn't in the mood to meet his new partner today. But he knew he must get it over and done with at some point. And since Gantu's mood wasn't going to change any time soon, now was just as good of a time as ever. Reuben of course was not present on deck. He was below in the Galley managing over things there. Gantu hadn't said much to him since they had left Turo. They weren't mad at each other, nor was Gantu upset with his little yellow companion. He was just apprehensive about the whole affair before him. And when he was apprehensive, Gantu tended to shut everyone out.

"This is the BRB 11,000 requesting permission to land and re-fuel," Officer Hermi spoke through the ship's communicator. Gantu listened as his smaller Officer finally got through to the communications centre on the moon. The speakers were static for a moment after Hermi had requested permission for the ship's landing. Everyone on board the bridge waited impatiently for a response from the other end, and finally, after several seconds, a voice broke through the static and spoke back.

"This is the shuttle port bay of Shaelekar police headquarters to the BRB 11,000. Request to land and re-fuel granted. Landing coordinates being sent."

Both Officer Armilia and Officer Hermi worked on their computers preparing the ship for landing. The Captain kept his attentions focussed out of the window at their ship began to approach the moon's atmosphere. His mind wandered off to thinking about his short time as an Officer in the police force. He remembered his first time entering the space port of this very moon over 20 years ago. He was only a juvenile back then. A Rookie. He had acquired his first ever space craft license while on duty here. Of course, later on, he was able to obtain 4 more for several particular types of space craft, but his first one was still the most memorable. But his time here was short and sweet. Gantu had now become a successful Captain in the Galactic Armada. He wondered what ranks his old colleagues were in. Corporal? Lieutenant? Major? Well they could not possibly be Chief or Commander since both of those positions were filled by two Officers' whom he had never heard of before. He wondered what it took for Chief Zettar to actually obtain the rank of Chief of security. What was so special about him? Did he have an excellent record? Was his skills in hand-to-hand combat better than everyone else's? In any case, this Chief would probably be a very good ally for Gantu to work with, since it was extremely difficult to cut through the ranks in the Shaelek police force. Gantu himself doubted that he would have gotten any higher than the position of Lieutenant if he had stayed on his home world. Going through the ranks in the Galactic Alliance was pips easy when compared to the police force on Shaelekar. But remaining in that rank was a completely different story, as Gantu himself had found out from past experience.

"Preparing for landing on deck A sir," Officer Armilia called out as they headed inside the space port and prepared the ships wheels for the final landing. Gantu, who had remained quiet for pretty much the whole journey, finally spoke.

"Good," he nodded "make sure the ship's defence weapons are disabled. We do not want an accident to happen inside the space port." He was referring to a previous mission where he had returned to Turo and almost made a platform collapse when the laser cannons were not disabled from firing. No one had got hurt from that fiasco, thank Polluxar. But the Captain did have to explain it to the Galactic Council. That of course, was not a memory he liked to reflect upon.

"Yes sir."

After the landing, the crew reported to their Captain who had given the orders for them to remain on the ship. This was not going to be like their trip to Turo. They were strictly here to pick up the Chief and be assigned their first mission by the Commander. They would not be staying the whole day. He hoped anyway. Gantu and Reuben were the only two to be leaving the ship. And Reuben himself was kind of surprised at Gantu's request that he attended the meeting with the Commander and Chief. He wasn't expecting to be accompanying Gantu on this particular endeavour since the two had rarely spoken since Turo. But he did as Gantu had requested. He couldn't deny he was also curious. He wanted to see what the other Shaelek species were like. Were they all big moody blubber-butts like Gantu? He seriously hoped not.

"Remind me again," Reuben began as he and Gantu approached the main exit of the BRB 11,000. "Why do I have to tag along on this trip?"

Gantu picked him up by the shoulders and placed him on his right hand as he spoke "I need you to accompany me on this task, since I want your opinion on this Chief Zettar. Plus, you always tag along with me on things like this anyway."

"Well yeah," Reuben shrugged as he was placed onto Gantu's shoulder "but since you have rarely spoken to me for the past two days, I thought you had fell out with me."

Gantu went to place his hand on the door button, but his hand slipped and fell back to his side as he let out a deep exhale. His features softened and he gazed across to his small little yellow friend in red uniform with a slight glum look on his face. "Look, I'm sorry I've ignored you. I'm just not particularly looking forward to this."

"I can tell," Reuben crossed his arms "but what is so bad about seeing the people from your home planet? They can't be all that bad... right?"

"I'm not sure," Gantu shrugged letting his head fall in a slight defeat "my species are very dominant and authoritarian. I guess I just feel ashamed of myself for going back."

"Why?" Reuben placed a hand on Gantu's tusk as his eyes widened in surprise. He was not expecting to hear that.

"I guess it's after what happened on Earth. Sure I've had a great reputation for the past 5 years, but since what happened the other day with Zellious Glornack's escape, I can't stop thinking about how I've probably brought shame among my own people for being such a failure. We're not expected to fail! And from what I have heard about this Chief Zettar, he has not failed a single mission. Me, I've failed hundreds of times. Twice in my career as Captain, and 625 times when I was working for Hämsterviel."

"Oh," was Reuben's only response. So this what was troubling Gantu all of this time? Him being worried that this Chief of security would better him at everything? It may have sounded petty to most people, but he knew that it was very important to Gantu. In some ways the little Galley Officer pitied his huge friend. He knew that he had a rough time back on Earth, and he knew that his mocking did not help his _'blubber-butt buddy's' _situation one bit. But Reuben was made to be a snide little experiment. It was one of his many traits other than making sandwiches and being bone idle. It was what made him, him.

Gantu had given up opening the door at this point. He knew that the Commander and some of his Officer's, perhaps even Chief Zettar being one of them, were out there awaiting his arrival. But something held him back. He had never been this self conscious in his life! Reuben wanted to promise his friend that everything would be fine and that his species would be proud of him. But since he did not know Gantu's species that well regarding general expectations and accomplishing standards, he wasn't too sure if he could keep such a promise. But in any case, he needed to comfort his friend. So he decided to give him the words he needed to hear.

"Gantu, look. I may not be good at speeches. Heck, I'm even worse at giving good advice. But hear me out here. You have Commander Turak and his Officer's out there waiting for YOU. Not for me, not for the other guys in our ship. For YOU, and only YOU. Surely they must have some pride in you. You are after all, the only Shaelek in the Galactic Alliance. Therefore, you are representing them as a species. You've done so good as a Captain, and your reputation is formidable. And as for your so called _'failures' _for when you were working for Rat face, they do not count as failures at all. They just proved that you sucked at being the villain. You're too damn soft in all that blubber to pull off being the bad guy. And surely what you say about the Chief isn't entirely true. Surely he's slipped up at least once in his career right? Everyone slips up every once and a while. Even the best, which is what you are! So go out there and make them proud! Make me proud! Do it for me, would you ol' buddy?"

Gantu's frown slowly, but surely, brightened and the encouragement from his friend suddenly gave him a small confidence boost. Reuben certainly wasn't what he claimed to be. He was actually pretty good at giving good advice. Of course Reuben's words were comforting, but Gantu's stubborn pride was always pressured by his own jumbled up thoughts. No matter what anyone said, he still viewed himself not good enough for his position as Captain. Before the entire affair with Jumba Jookiba's trial and the escape of experiment 626, Gantu was a very aggressive and proud Captain who was self conceited and rather stuck up at times about his highly ranked authority. But ever since he was retired and had all of that stripped away, he was reduced to being a soft sap who could take a verbal beating from anyone and did nothing to defend himself from it.

Gantu sucked up everything he feared, everything he dreaded, inside of him. He puffed out his muscled chest and held firm as he pressed the door button in order to exit the ship. As he slowly pressed down, he looked over at Reuben. He simply smiled in encouragement and patted his friend's tusk. Gantu then turned his head back to the door as it finally clicked. It was ready to be opened. He waited one more moment before mustering up the courage to step forward from the frame. And as the door automatically opened, Gantu was greeted with an unexpected and very sudden surprise.

As Gantu stepped out of the doorframe of his huge ship and his large feet made their way onto the ramp, he was greeted with a sound he had not heard in a very long time. Applause! There, right before his eyes, was a sight he had least expected. A crowd of his own species, each of various shades of grey, all in blue police uniform, cheering for HIM! Gantu immediately felt like an idiot for expecting the worst from his fellow Shaelekeans. He wasn't expecting a royal welcome such as this. The whole space port were all in applause as the tall Captain and his little Galley Officer, who remained on his shoulder throughout, made their way down the ramp to greet the Officer's below. Gantu felt a feeling he hadn't felt in years, a sense of honour and pride. It felt good. Very good! Obviously they weren't disappointed in him at all.

"Captain Gantu!" A voice called out from within the crowd. Gantu waved at the crowd of Officer's before him as he made his way down the ramp. And once at the bottom, he heard the voice call out his name and title. Gantu peered curiously as a small group of Officers at the front of the crowd made way for a taller and much older Shaelek who was striding, very proudly, towards him. "Captain Gantu of the Galactic Alliance," the male Shaelek stepped forward, making himself known to him. "We are honoured to be finally acquainted with you!"

Gantu studied the older Shaelek who stood before him in a very high and proud stance. He was taller than Gantu, about a foot or so higher. And much like Gantu, he had muscles which matched his physique and height quite nicely. Gantu could tell he was an older member of the police force, due to the lines on his facial features. Like most alien species, Shaelek's aged with lines and wrinkles developing around their eyes, mouth and on their tusks. And the eyes of the Officer were worn and had lost their bluish glow. Something which Gantu still had, since he was not even reaching the middle age of his species. Actually, Gantu would still be considered a young adult by most of his species since Shaeleks had a rather long life span and did not start looking aged until they were at least 80 years old. This Officer was obviously of higher rank as his uniform was slightly different to the other Officer's beside him. He also had a golden name badge which Gantu could not read from the distance he was stood away from him. The Officer took out his hand and offered it to the younger Captain. Gantu accepted of course and shook it firmly whilst grinning. The Officer shook it for a couple of seconds as he introduced himself.

"I am Commander Turak," he spoke, his other hand placing itself on his chest "we have been awaiting your arrival with great anticipation."

"Have you?" Gantu's eyes widened as the Commander nodded and let go of the handshake.

"Yes sir," he grinned, remaining in his tall stance throughout, "the Grand Councilwoman has told us nothing but positivity's about you and your crew."

Gantu was shocked. Actually, shocked was a bit of an understatement. The Grand Councilwoman hadn't told him of anything bad? Wasn't he aware of Zellious Glornack's recent escape under his charge? Surely it was all over the Intergalactic news. Stories like that usually made it on there. Gantu was still getting over how long the news story on the jailing of Jumba Jookiba and the escape of his experiment 626 had lasted for. Gantu hadn't heard the end of that one. It was on every station. He hoped he wouldn't have to re-live that again with his other escaped convict. Gantu suddenly shook his head _'Positive!'_ Gantu mentally scolded himself _'think positive, Captain Gantu!'_

"Well I am honoured that you think my services to your satisfactory sir," Gantu beamed as the Commander placed an encouraging arm around the Captain's shoulders and guided him forward through the crowd of cheering Officers.

"Come," the Commander said as he gestured for his Officer's to step back in order to make way for the pair "let's get you away from this busy crowd and discuss your return to Shaelekar."

Reuben was just as stunned as Gantu to be greeted with such a warm welcome. Of course he hadn't been greeted personally since it was Gantu's turn in the spotlight. But he didn't mind about that. He was happy that his friend was receiving such a warm welcome from his own species. This would surely boost up Gantu's ego and make him a little less of a manic depressive grump now. And this brought a sense of peace to Reuben's small mind. Reuben himself was actually in a sense of awe at the crowd of Shaeleks. He watched them with an eager curiosity. All of them looked like Gantu, but some were smaller, some were taller, some were thinner and some had huge muscles. Either way, he was surrounded by a sea of Gantu's. Where were the whale or shark jokes when he needed them? There was something Reuben noticed which peaked his curiosity further. He could not see one female Officer within the crowd of males. Reuben had only seen one female Shaelek in his whole lifetime, and that was only for a brief couple of seconds. He still shuddered at the very thought of seeing Gantu's ex-girlfriend stood before them dressed in nothing but a dressing gown with a bunch of curlers springing out of her head. He wondered if all of the female's all ended up as ugly as she did. Perhaps that was why there were no females present. Perhaps they were too afraid to show their ugly faces around other people. Or, a more logical explanation being, the police force did not consist of female Shaeleks. Perhaps it was just a male dominant thing.

"Captain Gantu, it's an honour to see you!"

"You're giving us a great honour sir! I tip my hat to you!"

"You go Captain Gantu, you're the best!"

Those were just some of the comments he had heard as he walked past the variety of male Shaeleks who stood before him clapping with pride. Gantu hadn't felt his highly honoured or admired in such a long time. No one on Turo welcomed him like this after he had returned there with the bad guys. This was a very nice change indeed. He had pretty much forgotten all that he was concerned about moments ago. He was being more than just appreciated by his own kind, he was being idolised.

"This way Captain," the Commander gestured whilst opening a door at the other end of the port. Gantu entered first and thanked the Commander before the older male continued to speak. "I trust you had a pleasant journey since your departure from Turo?"

"Oh, yes sir," Gantu lied. He hadn't had a very pleasant journey at all. His apprehension had made him a sack of nerves. he couldn't eat, sleep or even shower without worrying about this whole business. But he did not wish to admit that to the Commander.

"Good, good," the Commander grinned as he gestured the Captain to sit down. They were now in some sort of office. Gantu guessed it was the Commander's, judging by its size and by the contents which were displayed throughout. Awards and trophies displayed on shelves and in frames on the wall. Various paperwork's and digital holograms scattered about on the desk. But what was the dead giveaway was a picture hologram on the Commander's desk. There, on the hologram, was a picture of an older female Shaelek, a younger female and an even younger son (or perhaps grandson?). The Commander noticed Gantu's eyes upon the picture frame and smiled proudly as he held it up to the Captain to get a better look. "My family." He grinned "my wife, our daughter and her young son. My grandson. Do you have any family Captain Gantu?"

Gantu suddenly felt a sudden rush of sadness wash over him. "No sir," Gantu simply responded, not wanting to go into too much deal about his personal life.

"Well Captain," the Commander spoke highly as he placed the picture hologram back on the desk gently "when you have kids of your own, you'll realize how precious your time is."

Gantu simply nodded at the Commander's comment about children and family. He had never experienced it himself, so he had no opinion on the matter. But there were times he did wonder about it. Was he father material? Heck, was he even husband material? He hadn't spoken to a female Shaelek in years! Nor was he ever likely to, since there were no females present, from what he had gathered, on the space port. Gantu shook off the very thought of families and everything relating to that subject when his Galley Officer, who had strangely remained quiet for such a long time, finally spoke.

"Hey, Commander?" Reuben questioned. The Commander suddenly turned his surprised eyes to the direction of Reuben who waved casually his way. The Commander stepped closer and analysed the small yellow experiment with his squinting eyes.

"What in Blitznak are you?" He questioned, his voice rather bellowing in surprise "a yellow mutant teddy bear or something?"

Reuben's brow arched in some sort of insulted manner. He didn't see that coming. Sure the little spiteful and mean Earth girl, Myrtle, had once described him as _"a guy who looks like a teddy bear, but smells like baloney" _But how in the Andromeda Galaxy could the Commander of the Shaelek police force mistake him for a teddy bear of all things? Did they even know what a teddy bear was? Oh wait, he forgot. Gantu, the big baby he was, slept with one. Of course they did!

Gantu spoke up as the Commander's head tilted to Gantu's shoulder as he studied the little yellow creature whom he had just referred to as a _"yellow mutant teddy bear."_ Gantu raised a finger and cleared his throat before speaking. "Commander Turak, how rude of me to not introduce to you, my Galley Officer, Reuben. Aka, experiment 625."

"Experiment?" The Commander questioned, head leaning back in a slight surprise.

"He's one of Dr. Jumba Jookiba's, sir," Gantu explained "he's the cousin of the famous 626."

The Commander immediately got it. Who hadn't heard of experiment 626? "Oh, I see. May I ask why he of all creatures, is your Galley Officer?"

"Funny you mention that. I-" Reuben stood to speak, only to have a huge hand shoved over his tiny mouth very rudely. It took all of Reuben's strength not be shoved off of Gantu's shoulder by his enormous three fingered hand. He shot Gantu a very low scowl as he was shut up. Gantu did this so he could explain it all to the Commander without any snide remarks coming from the mouth of his Galley Officer. He didn't need Rueben to interject and ruin his chances of making a good impression on the Commander now.

"I was stuck with him during my time on the planet known as Earth. And when I was reinstated as Captain, I gave him the opportunity to put his powers to good use. He has all of the powers of experiment 626 and is a very loyal Galley Officer."

"I see," the Commander nodded, his face rather unsure of what to make of Reuben's position. He merely shook it off. He couldn't judge someone, or something, he didn't know. He was here to view the strapping young figure who was representing his force in the Galactic Armada. Who he saw fit to employ in his crew was none of his business or concern.

Commander Turak sat down behind his desk. He edged his chair closer to the desk and grabbed some documents and placed them together. Taking a glance at the paperwork, he merely chuckled and placed it to one side. "That's the problem being the Commander of the police force on a huge planet Captain Gantu," he smiled "too much damn paperwork."

Gantu let out a suppressed chuckle and nodded. He knew what he meant. Even the Captain of the Galactic Armada had paperwork all of his Officers pressured him into signing. It was one of the disadvantages of being in any high position. Gantu watched as the paper was placed at the end of the desk. A sudden thought reminded Gantu of what his real reasons for being here were. He decided to make it known to the Commander in the hopes of easing his currently pre-occupied mind.

"Sir," he began slowly "Forgive the sudden change in subject. But I must enquire. When will I be making the acquaintance of my new partner?"

Turak did not tense at all. He actually smirked slightly and shook his head in amusement "Oh you youngens," he chuckled "never have time for your elders."

"Sir, I did not mean any offence!" Gantu jumped in, thinking he had offended the Commander. Turak simply shook a single finger his way and smiled softly.

"No, no, Captain. I was merely joking. I understand your eagerness to meet our Chief of security. And you shall very soon, I promise you."

Gantu was now a bit more at ease, he was still very eager to make the acquaintance of his new partner, since he barely knew anything on his character or anything about him in general for that matter. The Grand Councilwoman was very brief in her description of the guy. Explaining that he was an excellent Officer who had made all of the arrests of the gang members he sought after, interrogating each of them extremely and obtaining pretty much all of the knowledge that the Galactic Council were willing to share with him. Having such an excellent record meant that Gantu would have a better chance at taking the prisoners down with the combined forces of his own security crew. And if this Chief Zettar was as strong and tough as he had hoped for, he would be in for a good show. Surely no criminal could take down two Shaelek's and an entire armed guard of highly trained aliens.

Just before Gantu could respond with his relief in the situation, a sudden loud static sound broke through the speaker on the Commander's desk. It was not your average sound of interference. It was loud. So loud in fact that it made all three people in the room cringe. Reuben in particular.

"OW!" He whined, bringing both of his paws to his ears "Jeez! Blitznaking hell! Guy with sensitive hearing present."

"I apologise," the Commander turned the speaker down with the small dial "we're having temporary technical difficulties with our communications relay at the moment. We're picking up nothing but static and robotic sounding voices."

Suddenly a voice broke through the speaker set, sounding very much like the Commander had just described. Very robotic sounding. "Commander Turak," they could make out "Come in Commander Turak."

The Commander picked up his microphone and spoke into the speaker hastily. "This is Commander Turak. Go ahead."

"Commander," the voice began, the static interference making it difficult to make out "You are required in the command centre. The arrests being made by Zettar's forces have suddenly took a surprising turn. A big police pursuit is now underway."

"Blitznak!" The Commander slammed his fist down and gently caressed his large head with his immense hand. His other hand was still holding the microphone and the person on the other end could barely make out what he had just cursed.

"Sir?"

Turak briefly passed a glance over at Gantu who merely watched the Commander with a concerned eye. This was reminding him all too much of the events of the other day when he himself was commanding a pursuit which had gone awry. Now it seemed it was happening again, this time with the person who was about to be placed among his crew. Turak brought the microphone back up to his mouth and spoke clearly "We will be right there. Tell Chief Zettar not to make any sudden moves on the pursuit until I give the command. I don't want any casualties as a result of the force's recklessness."

"Yes, sir!" The line suddenly went back to static before switching off entirely. Commander Turak placed the microphone back on its stand and gazed back at the awaiting Captain and Galley Officer. He stood, urging Gantu to stand with him.

"Looks like you will be seeing your new partner in action after all, Captain," he began, a hint of distaste behind the cheery demeanour he was trying so hard to portray. He then grasped the shoulder of the younger Captain and ushered him out of the office as they both headed towards the command centre with great haste.

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><p>Authors note: The events in the next chapter were originally meant to be in this chapter, but since it is more in-depth with details than compared to what I originally intended, I have decided to split it down the middle and put the police pursuit in the next chapter. I hope you all don't mind. Anyway, Chief Zettar will be making an appearance in the next chapter. In the mean time, I would really appreciate some feedback on my writing style. I don't want to bore you guys if you think the events are going slower than they should. Please tell me what you think. Thank you and I will be sure to update very soon.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4: Pursuits of Mayhem

Chapter 4: Pursuits of mayhem

Authors note: Well guys, here is Chapter 4! This chapter will be building up to the events in the next chapter which will finally be a turning point in this story. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! I even tried to include some Reuben and Gantu humour in it. Something which I personally loved about the show and films.

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><p>The command centre was HUGE. One of the largest commanding centres Gantu had ever been in. It even rivalled the size of the Galactic Federation's control centre. That was how large it was. There had to be at least a hundred different workers operating their own individual small monitor screens in this facility. All of which were male Shaeleks sat in their uniforms, complete with headsets and communication microphones attached to their mouths, via their tusks. Gantu followed the Commander as he walked around the premises and down a flight of stairs before approaching the front of the base of communications where 4 main operators were stationed; away from the other workers. In front of them was a huge monitor screen fitted down into smaller sections. Several were showing live news broadcasts from various Shaelekean stations while others were from the live feeds they were receiving from their own cameras around the planet. The middle screen was currently showing the pursuit in progress which the Commander was now aware of. Gantu and Reuben watched as 3 police Officers, all in riot gear, were on a hot pursuit against several criminals who were blasting their dangerous weapons at the Officers behind them. They were running down a very large corridor in an all-white building. The criminals, all male Shaeleks, were trying, and failing, to get the armed Officers off their tail.<p>

"Commander!" All four of the operators stood to attention simultaneously as he approached them. The Commander didn't respond to their honouring greeting, instead he ushered them to sit down and return to their duties.

"What's happening Lieutenant?" He questioned one of them, his tone deep and on-edge.

"Zettar's arrest did not go according to plan," the selected Lieutenant responded, turning back at the screen "turns out the criminals were not dealing in drugs at all, but illegal and deadly weapons. Practically identical to the ones they confiscated last week. The Chief ordered them to come quietly but they opened fire and injured two Officers before they ran off."

"Where is their current location?" The Commander stood firm as one of the operators looked at his monitor and typed a few things onto his screen.

"The weapons manufacturing plant, east of the city Dildurin," the operator answered looking away from his screen again.

Gantu felt rather useless as he watched all of these workers do their jobs. He was the Captain of the Intergalactic police force, therefore he was irrelevant for helping out the police force for his own or any other planet, since they all worked differently to his own force. In any case, Gantu could not just stand there without offering some sort of assistance to the Commander.

"Commander Turak," he cleared his throat as he adjusted one of his black wrist guards "is there anything I can do?"

"Sorry Captain," Turak responded shaking his head. Gantu knew he'd get this response. "But your expertise is useless in this situation. What we need is contact with Chief Zettar." He then turned to his operators again "is the Chief on the other line?"

Two of the operators checked their monitors before turning back to their Commander. "Yes sir."

"Put the Chief through."

The operators did as instructed and the video footage on the monitor was shoved to a corner of the screen, in favour of an audio frequency display. The whole room erupted with a cracking static sound, just like what had happened a while back in the Commander's Office. All of the operators turned to the monitor and watched as the frequency reading on screen jumped up and down erratically. The call was now being made. Commander Turak picked up a nearby microphone and pressed the button down as hard as he could with his large grey finger.

"Chief Zettar, are you receiving me? Over."

The footage on the screen showed the three Officers now cornered off by the criminals they were pursuing. Neither of them moving an inch now; just hiding behind some debris in order to have some cover whilst both the criminals and the Officers in pursuit opened fire on one another. It was now obvious to Gantu, who stood, arms crossed, watching the whole dilemma before him, that Chief Zettar was in fact one of the Officer's ducking for cover and blasting their weapon whenever they got the chance. But sadly, he couldn't tell which one since all three Officers were dressed in riot gear. Meaning their entire bodies, from head to toe, were covered in black thick plasma proof armour and an advanced head guard, which shielded their faces from view as well as from the plasma blasts. The video footage was also not very detailed since the static interference was not only affecting the audio but also the video feed. The figures could be made out, but the footage was like seeing an old Earth movie on a low quality video tape.

A cracking sound on the other line suddenly came through and a very static and distorted voice responded to the Commander after moments of nothing but normal interference. "This is Chief Zettar. I'm receiving you Commander. Over."

The voice was too distorted for words. Gantu could barely make it out the interference was that bad. One moment the pitch was high, the next it was low. How in the Creblock system did these guys cope with this? You had to concentrate hard on the words in order to make them out. Perhaps it was a temporary technical glitch that was being sorted by some technicians as they spoke. Gantu had certainly hoped so. The static noise was bugging him. A LOT.

"Chief, what's going on over there?" The Commander continued to speak through the speakers. On the screen above, one of the Officers had a near escape from a plasma blast which had caught the edge of the wall they were taking shelter behind.

"They've opened fire on us sir," the voice could hardly be made out "their weapons are far more advanced and lethal than ours. One blast to the chest and we're done for!"

"I want you to get out of there Zettar! Two of your men are down, we do not need any more casualties."

"Negative sir," the voice responded as a brave Officer stepped out from behind the wall and began opening fire on the stalling criminals who were busy re-loading their weapons. One began firing laser beams at the Officer who dodged them gracefully by doing a front body roll before getting on one knee to get a good shot. After doing this, the Officer proceeded to shoot that fugitive down with their stunning plasma blaster. Gantu was impressed with this Officer's skill and ability. It took balls to get out from behind a cover to open fire in order to take down the bad guys. Gantu had done it many times in the past; he knew the risks. He had almost had some close calls himself. That particular Officer intrigued him. That tactical manoeuvre was something which took years to master. No mere Rookie could do that and have the composure afterward to shoot straight. Was this Officer in fact the Chief who he was about to work with? He hoped so. He could do with someone like that in his force. Gantu's admiration was cut to a brief halt as the voice continued to crack through the speaker, "There is no escape from this part of the building without going through the targets first," the voice continued. "Besides, we've almost done taking them down. Only three remain standing."

The Commander watched the screen closely as yet another criminal was shot down by the brave Officer. The other two Officers now joined in and opened fire on the two remaining criminals. The remaining two criminals exchanged panicky glances before they began to flee and ditched their weapons after they ran out of ammo. The police Officers soon followed and pursued them, the camera following close behind. The Commander finally spoke again. This time, his voice sounding more confident.

"Alright Chief, take them down. But extreme force is not authorized. I don't want any more casualties."

"Yes sir, Chief Zettar signing off." the voice replied before the static got so bad that the operators decided to turn it off.

"Technical difficulties huh?" Reuben muttered, clenching his ears tightly together with his paws "get a technician to fix it already!"

The entire room watched in silence as the pursuit was underway. The occasional sounds of beeping or the faint mutterings of the news reports could be heard in the background, but no one paid that any attention. Everyone was in anticipation as they watched the criminals somehow gain access to their ship and end up blasting off from the weapons facility as soon as possible. They were very desperate to get away. Of course the remaining police Officers were soon able to catch up with them. They were highly trained to do so. Each of the Officers boarded the blue and purple police cruiser as they blasted off into the planet's atmosphere in an attempt to catch the criminals smaller cruiser. Soon a big air pursuit was now underway. The criminals inside the ship, once realizing how close they were to arrest, resulted in pure last minute desperation as they had engaged their ship's weapon systems and locked their target onto the police cruiser, which was now very close behind. Gantu's breath seized every now and then as he watched the police ship dodge every cannon blast which was headed their way. The criminals were using all that they could in their weapons systems to try and shoot down their pursuers. But unfortunately for them, they were not counting on the skills of the Chief of security and the other Officers in the ship. Suddenly the police cruiser did a counter strike against the fugitives cruiser by shooting a single cannon plasma blast right at its right wing. It certainly did not miss. The ship began to go down at a rapid pace. And the police cruiser began to lower its altitude in order to keep up with the disabled space ship.

"They've got 'em," one of the operators rejoiced quietly.

"I wouldn't rejoice yet Lieutenant," the Commander reminded him as he crossed his arms and continued to look at the monitor with rather drawn eyes. "It's not over yet."

When the ship finally crashed, there was surprisingly little movement from within the wreckage of the crash site. The criminals small red and white, obviously stolen, cruiser was now reduced to being a piece of compacted scrap metal. Well, at least the crash site specialists would have some fun, if anyone else didn't. The camera following the pursuit suddenly came to a halt and focussed closely on the crash site, keeping particularly focussed on the exit of the ship which had somehow remained intact after the crash. The police cruiser was soon able to land nearby the disabled and useless ship and the Officers were (barely) made out on the monitor to be exiting their ship to survey the damage. One of the Officers stormed up to the ship, weapon in hand, and climbed the wrecked wing in order to get towards the door which provided as the only entrance/exit of the ship. With a swift ninja kick; well that was how Reuben would have described it, the door flew open and literally swung off its already broken hinges. The Officer entered hostilely as the other two waited below with their weapons drawn. For several moments, everyone in the control room were left to wonder what had happened to all of the criminals inside the wrecked vessel. Were they dead? Unconscious? Had they already found an escape route? But fortunately, they were not left to ponder on this too long. After about a minute of entering, the Officer exited the ship with a squirming and bound prisoner close at hand. The Officer, after making their way off of the wing of the wreckage, made hand gestures with their free hand to the other two Officers to retrieve the others inside. Suddenly the control centre were in uproar with applause and cheering. Gantu and Reuben looked at each other in relief. This mission was a success. Now they could meet their successful partner and not have to worry about any similar failures to their own.

"Quiet!" The Commander bellowed suddenly in order to hush the applauding crowd of operating staff. Gradually, the applause and cheers died away and the room was silent enough for the Commander to turn on the static microphone again in order to contact his Chief of security once more. "Chief Zettar? Come in, Chief Zettar?"

The Officer who had entered and exited the ship the first time raised their gloved hand up at the camera as a voice broke through the interfering static again. "All criminals captured and taken down Commander." The voice explained, still not losing the harsh gritty sound which was making both Gantu's and Reuben's ears hurt.

"How many dead?" The Commander asked.

"None sir," the voice broke through once again, this time another voice in the background could be heard. Though the words could not be made out since the audio quality was dreadful. It just sounded like a slight mumble with a static and whiney gritty sound to it. It reminded Gantu of some of the music referred to as 'dubstep' the Humans listened to back when he spent his time on Earth. "We have one conscious and the others are all unconscious. I have ordered a team to pick up the ones at the weapons plant and I will have a medic check this guy over to see if he is fit for interrogation. We will handle the stolen contraband and bring it back to the specialists for them to analyse."

"Good work Zettar." The Commander grinned as the Officer stuck the finger which resembled a Shaelekean thumb at the camera once again "you and your crew have worked hard today. Report to me as soon as you get back to base."

"Yes sir," the Chief said "over and out."

The static line went dead once again, much to the relief of everyone with decent hearing in the room. The Commander was now leaning over the desk of one of the operating staff with a sense of relief and respite about him. He remained in this state for several moments before standing upright in order to give the awkward operator, who had been pushed aside, his desk back. He placed the microphone down on the desk before his hands clasped together and he turned back to the Captain, who had remained silent the entire time with his arms crossed in some sort of tension.

"Well Captain," he smiled, placing his hand on his shoulder "your partner is safe for your charge. This was Zettar's last mission today. And providing the medical examiner says the conscious prisoner is well enough for interrogation, you may have a chance to witness that."

Gantu was intrigued. He had never witnessed an interrogation during his brief time with the Shaelekean police force years ago. Sure, he had watched hundreds of them whilst working for the Galactic Alliance. They were pretty much the same. Questions, denial, hugging, crying, oh and on the rare occasions, throwing chairs. Kind of like the Earth talk shows he found his time to watch while living there. But he knew he'd be in for a show watching an interrogation here. The way this police force dealt with their captured convicts was less than to be desired. He still remembered witnessing an Officer of higher rank break a prisoner's shoulder after they tried to escape upon returning to the police station. And this was years ago. According to the Grand Councilwoman, the Shaelek police force now had even tougher rules in place on the handling of their convicted criminals. Of course the Galactic Council tried their best to intervene, but they had their own force in place. They could not order about single planets just because they had different rules to their own separate force.

"And then will we finally get to meet this Chief?" Reuben questioned rather impatiently. Gantu could tell he was getting bored. He was also probably cranky. He hadn't eaten a single sandwich since their arrival.

"Yes, Galley Officer Reuben," the Commander spoke, surprising the little experiment by addressing him by his name and title. "The Chief will be aware of your arrival as soon as their craft returns to the space port. I'm thinking that the interrogation won't start straight away, so you two may have to wait a couple of hours before you can see it."

"A couple of hours?!" Reuben moaned in protest as he pointed down to his stomach, "my stomach can't take it anymore! I've been deprived of my sandwiches for hours now!"

The Commander simply nodded and smiled as his eyes adjusted from the tiny Galley Officer, to the Captain. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out some yellow pieces of paper before proceeding to give them to the confused Gantu. "Here," the Commander placed them in his hand "you and your crew all must be tired and hungry upon your arrival here. While we get things sorted here, you and your crew go and treat yourselves to the food in our canteen. These tokens will get you each a meal and a drink."

Reuben rudely snatched the tokens from Gantu's hand, faster than his cousin had snatched an experiment pod from him years before. Gantu grumbled as he and the Commander looked in surprise at the smaller specimen as he read the tokens with an eager interest. He looked up to the Commander with an unsure and sceptical gaze.

"Hey," Reuben began, his tone evidently sceptical "what's the cache here?"

"No cache, I assure you sir!" The Commander commented. "We give those tokens to visitors who are staying as our guests. And since you and your crew will not be leaving for a while yet, we are giving them to you so you can get yourselves something to eat and drink."

Gantu's eyes widened. Oh Blitznak! He had forgotten about his crew. He had ordered them to stay on the BRB 11,000 while he sorted things out with the Commander. He wasn't originally planning to stay this long at the Shaelek police force headquarters. But since that intention was now out of the window, he would now go and tell his crew that they were off duty until further notice.

"We thank you for these tokens sir," Gantu snatched the tokens back off of his little sandwich obsessed companion while exchanging a slight scowl battle with him. He then gazed back up at the Commander with a calm and grateful approach and shook his hand once again "our crew will be eager to have a bit of a break after our long journey."

"Go to the canteen and grab some lunch. Please stay in there until further notice. I will then send for an Officer to come and get you so you can finally meet your new partner and watch the interrogation." The Commander told him. Gantu stood to attention and nodded in response. "I take my leave of you Captain, for the present."

"Thank you sir," Gantu watched as he strode away proudly. He and Reuben were left alone once more. Reuben gazed up at Gantu with a smug grin. He was obviously proud of trying to embarrass Gantu in front of Commander Turak. Gantu snarled in response and picked him up with a hand before poking him in the stomach with another.

"Will you stop trying to make me look bad?" Gantu asked in annoyance. "I'm trying to make a good impression, and you just blow it!"

"Sorry G, I couldn't resist," Reuben smirked, his arms and shoulders shrugging causally "I like to see you put in awkward situations."

"I hate you sometimes," Gantu shook his head and dropped Reuben on the floor before proceeding to walk away. Reuben, like he usually did, regained his posture from being dropped at such a height before he proceeded to chase after his best friend. He did deserve that, he couldn't deny it. But it was worth it seeing Gantu wound up like this. It was different this time, he was merely teasing him. This was the way the two had stuck together for so long. Reuben got on Gantu's case, he ignored him for a while and then things went back to normal. It was an endless cycle. Proven to show anyone that their friendship was the real deal.

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><p>The canteen was packed. Obviously it was the wrong time to be eating lunch in there since pretty much all of the force were on some sort of lunch break. Gantu had struggled to get a seat. He had managed to squeeze his way through the queue and order what he wanted before finding an appropriate seat to sit in. Gantu was luckily one of the first in the queue, so he was able to order what he wanted. He hadn't eaten Shaelekean food in years. But he still remembered what he liked and disliked. His Orlakian fillet and Xus crispy fries looked very appealing from the way they were placed on his plate. He wasn't sure if the chef was actually taking care of how it was displayed in order to make it appealing, or, if he was just too hungry to notice the difference between a dollop of food or a nicely prepared meal. Gantu's chosen seat was nearby the window, overlooking the shuttle port. He watched the Officer's on duty signal ships in and out of the bay from behind the glass. Reuben was in the queue still. He had gone back twice for seconds and thirds. He was a greedy little thing. It was lucky that the Commander had given Gantu a lot of those food tokens, or else the poor genetic experiment would have suffered terribly.<p>

Gantu sat in an awkward silence as he ate his food quietly. Nearby, other Officers were talking about their loved ones who they had left behind on Shaelekar. Some were talking about wedding plans while others were talking about their due babies. It made Gantu feel rather low, he kept being reminded of the life he could have had if he had not let his pride and career get in the way of his personal feelings. But hey, his career had meant everything to him. After a low point in his life, his luck had turned around, and for the past 5 years it had been successful, unlike some other poor workers. But when it came to discussions about family, he was rather left out, since his only family was really a tiny and greedy yellow genetic experiment who was the only one willing to stick by him. Don't get him wrong, Gantu pretty much loved Reuben like he was a family member. But deep inside he wanted more. If only he still had living relatives.

When Reuben finally returned back to the table for the third time in a row, he hobbled over, his stack of food pretty much towering over him. "Hey Gantu, give me a boost will ya?" He called from the floor. Gantu, who was staring off into space with a depressed and longing gaze, hardly heard the little experiment call his name. He just sighed and placed his elbow on the table and placed his chin on his hand. Reuben rolled his eyes and cleared his throat noisily. Still no response. "HEY TROUT FACE, I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Reuben bellowed rather too loudly. Gantu wasn't the only one who's attention was caught. Almost half of the Shaelekean Officers turned around and fixed their wide eyes on the small yellow alien. Reuben turned his head from side to side awkwardly as the room went very silent. Many insulted and menacing scowls headed his way. He knew he had stepped his foot in it now. "Um, I meant Gantu," he spoke, pointing up at his friend awkwardly. Gantu slapped his face on his hand and tried to avoid the stares of the other Officers. What had he told him about embarrassing him? He was really taking the piss now!

Gantu lifted Reuben up with his hand and placed him and his selection of food on the counter. He turned around and faced the window, still feeling many eyes drawn upon on him. Reuben shook his head and turned away from them distastefully as he took his hat off and placed it on the side of the table; preparing to eat his selected food. "Sheesh, tough crowd," he remarked watching as the Officers slowly went back to their own business, some muttering rather nasty things about the genetic experiment who had just insulted them unintentionally.

"YOU!" Gantu poked him in the stomach very angrily "You had better not try anything on when we meet Chief Zettar! I don't want you embarrassing me in front of him too!"

"Hey, hey," Reuben stepped back his paws raising up in defence, "take it easy there tubby. I'll keep my mouth shut for your new pal and sidekick, don't you worry. I just hope he isn't as much of a bum as you."

Gantu's hand clenched into a fist and he held it closely to his tiny companion "you'd better think yourself grateful that you're in a public place and that I cannot pummel you without losing my professional credibility. Don't think I wouldn't hesitate to blast you with a plasma ball if we were on our ship."

"Correction buddy," he swatted away his fist casually as he sat down on the table. He had been through this routine all too often to take his friend seriously anymore. He could always push his buttons like this and get away with it. "You wouldn't even waste your blaster on me."

"You wanna bet?" Gantu snarled, obviously up for a challenge.

"Uhhhhhh, yeah!" Reuben smirked "a ham sub sandwich with extra lettuce, if you don't mind."

Gantu shook his head and continued eating. He wasn't willing to bet shooting Reuben over a sandwich. He had made similar bets in the past and usually lost. He didn't need to owe him yet another sandwich. Reuben placed his food before him and examined it carefully. "Well, since the cook told me that they ran out of sandwiches, I had to make do with the next best thing. A wrap with some sort of yellow and green meat inside." He took a bite out of it. Gantu ignored him up until the point he had heard gagging. He looked down to see Reuben hurl up the food he had just consumed in some sort of disgust and horror. Gantu rolled his eyes and pushed his own food away. He certainly wasn't hungry now. "HOLY BLITZAK!" Reuben shouted through his gagging "WHAT THE HECK IS THAT STUFF?!"

Gantu picked up the un-eaten/hacked up piece of the wrap and examined it closely. He placed it towards his nose and took a sniff before he placed it back down on the table. "Urgul." He said simply.

"Urgul?!" Reuben coughed, picking out pieces inside his mouth "are ya sure it isn't meat from a toxic waste dump or something? I mean, what on Polluxar is it?"

Gantu smirked and patted Reuben's tiny shoulder with the tip of his bulky finger in order to get him to come closer to his face. Gantu then quietly told him what it was. And Reuben's face shrivelled up so much, he almost looked like he'd aged about 100 years. "It's meat from the anus of a Horuil fly. They're very large creatures who eat everything through their rear ends. It's an acquired taste. I personally have never tried the stuff. Don't plan on it either."

Reuben literally picked it up and threw it off of the counter like a naughty child. He had certainly lost his appetite now. Gantu's head followed the food which was now splattered all over the floor. "You'd better clean that up!" He told him like a scolding parent. Reuben shook his head in response.

"No way!" Reuben argued "you Shaeleks eat nasty stuff! They can keep it!"

Gantu would have called him a little trog and started yet _another_ argument with the pesky experiment. That was if both of their attentions weren't turned to some nearby Officers who were talking rather loudly as they bustled past.

"Ooh, they sell Urgul here? I need to get some of that delicious stuff," one of them grinned as he looked at his friend's plate which had the exact same food Reuben had just coughed up. Only in better condition than compared to Reuben's food. Gantu wasn't prepared for what was about to happen next. Nor was he too thrilled, again, with the actions of his little Galley Officer.

"DON'T YOU GUYS KNOW ITS HORUIL FLY ANUS?!" Reuben bawled, both hands placed near his mouth to project his already loud voice further "YOU GUYS MAKE ME SICK!"

The three Officers, who had just obliviously walked past Gantu, now turned around with stunned expressions strapped onto their faces. They weren't staring at Reuben at all. In fact, their eyes were widely glued onto Gantu. He sat there awkwardly facing them as Reuben headed for cover behind his friend's large muscular body. Gantu was left to sit there rather dumbfounded as his friend used his body as a shield. He grinned very nervously and let out a apprehensive half chuckle, half groan as he lifted his hand up to wave at the three Officers. The three stood there rather aghast before turning their attentions to their food, then to each other, then finally back to Gantu.

"What a weird loser," one of them spoke, his face turning into a frown as he turned around and walked off, urging the other two to follow him "come on guys."

Gantu uncomfortably lowered his hand gently as his eyes looked from side to side to see both of the Shaeleks sat nearby shake their heads in disgust at him. He now stuck out like a sore thumb even more thanks to Reuben's antics. He seriously couldn't take him anywhere! He wondered if the little Earth girl had this much trouble with her experiment companion. But at least when Stitch cursed, he cursed in his native tongue which few, if any, could understand. Reuben however, could mouth off and everyone around would understand him. Gantu raised his hand up to the corner of his face and pretended he wasn't there. This was not happening. The little trog was just an illusion. He was not embarrassing him in front of his own species like this.

"Phew, that was close," Reuben wiped his forehead before placing his hat back on his head. Just then, Gantu slammed his fist on the table with one hand and grabbed Reuben with the other.

"THAT'S IT TROG!" He swiftly stood, almost taking the table with him. "Let's go!"

Reuben surprisingly could not get out of his grip. That was odd for someone who was able to lift three thousand times his own weight. Heck, he could pick up Gantu with ease. He had done it so many times. But Gantu's grasp was so tight that Reuben could hardly breathe, meaning he did not have the strength to push him away. He had obviously been pushed way too far. Gantu stormed through the canteen with Reuben clenched tightly in his fist as he headed towards the exit. Sadly, Gantu was not able to make it to the exit. His way was blocked when an Officer stepped forward and stood before him expectantly.

"Captain Gantu?" He questioned to him.

"Oh, what now?!" Gantu fumed clenching his fist tighter, much to the dismay of the poor experiment who was gasping for air. The Officer's face suddenly looked rather alarmed as Gantu stood before him in a very livid manner.

"Sir, forgive me," he began clearing his throat. The Officer was slightly smaller than Gantu, around the same age too, and had next to no muscles on his arms. This made him feel rather weak and defenceless when he was confronting the angry Captain. "I am Officer Orlax." He explained "the Commander has sent me to take you to the interrogation room."

Gantu's grip on Reuben suddenly loosened and his temper began to seize. This was the Officer Commander Turak had told him about earlier. The one who he was going to send to pick him up when the interrogation was ready for action. It was slightly early for it. But Gantu was glad about that. He now had a proper reason for leaving the staff canteen.

"Proceed, Officer Orlax," Gantu instructed as the Officer gestured him to follow him out of the lunch room. Reuben was now roughly shoved onto Gantu's shoulder. Gantu poked him before he could regain his balance and spoke to him quietly but harshly "now, you had better keep your tiny clap-trap shut, or else you'll be finding yourself in a small compact shuttle heading towards the X-11 Black Hole!"

Reuben, for the first time, didn't say anything. He merely gulped and nodded rapidly in response to Gantu. He knew his joking and teasing was over. It would be no fun if he continued now.

The walk to the interrogation bay was a rather awkward one. Reuben could not say a word without having his head chewed off by Gantu, Gantu was still rather mad, and the Officer didn't have anything to say to either of them, since he didn't know them. In order to break the tension arising around them down the empty corridor, Gantu decided to speak. His tone more relaxed than compared to before.

"So," he began as he caught up alongside the Officer "are you the interrogator?"

The Officer turned his head in Gantu's direction and shook his head slowly before his head turned to watch where he was going. "Me? No sir, that is Chief Zettar's job. I am merely the medical Officer."

Reuben couldn't help himself. His face froze for a split second in confusion after the Officer explained his role in the interrogation crew. He grabbed onto Gantu's tusk and spoke out. And surprisingly, Gantu didn't flip at him.

"Medical Officer?" Reuben questioned "why the heck does the interrogation bay need a medical Officer of all people?"

"It's standard procedure," the Officer responded "every interrogation cannot take place unless a document or projection hologram is signed for a medical Officer to be present."

Reuben scratched his face, still in perplexity about the whole thing. He turned to Gantu and mouthed the words "do you know anything about this?" very quietly. Gantu merely shrugged in response. The pair were not accustomed to half of this stuff. Reuben had attended many interrogations along with his buddy Gantu while on Turo. He usually loved seeing the prisoners break down and confess to everything in front of their overpriced and overpaid representatives. But never before had he experienced a medical Officer being required at one. What in the Whirlpool Galaxy did they need one for? An interrogation usually involved a good and bad cop sitting down and asking questions. But then again, Reuben was on 'Fish-breath's' home world. Everything was different here, compared to what happened on Turo anyway.

Just as this conversation had finished, the Officer stopped walking and stood outside a black door with a golden frame around the outside of it. Gantu stood aside as the Officer tried to get to the device at the side of the door. Officer Orlax typed in the code on the large keys, with the alien symbols for numbers on each of them, and a beeping sound echoed three times through the corridor before the door automatically opened. The Officer gestured Gantu to entre first, and he did.

Inside the room was a small narrow horizontal way, and at the front there was a table which stretched all of the way across. It had various stacks of paper and holograms scattered about it. All of which were documents which had either been filled out by the Chief or Commander, and also records on previous interrogations. Above this table was a very large window, and as Gantu looked in that general direction, he noticed there was someone sat down on a chair next to a desk on the other side of the glass. He was bound by his wrists and a sharp probe-like device was sticking out of his huge muscular neck. It was obvious this was the convict that was about to be interrogated by Gantu's new partner. The guy was a big buff Shaelek with gigantically unnatural muscles. They were almost twice the size of Gantu's. Yeah, they were that big. Gantu was always disgusted with aliens, in any species, who saw it necessary to take illegal steroids in order to gain oversized muscles. Gantu had worked years to get his up to their current standard, and yet jerks like this guy just took pills to get them? It made him sick. The Shaelek was oblivious to the entry of Gantu and the medical Officer. He was on the other side of the laser/bullet proof glass which was also sound and sight proof. At the end of the room there was another automatic door which led into the separate room where the criminal was being held.

Gantu then turned his attentions to the rest of the room he was currently standing in. There was no one else in here. Where was the Commander? And, more importantly, where was Chief Zettar? He was getting rather frustrated with this Chief. He had ventured all the way here from Turo just to meet this guy, and not once upon his arrival had he seen him, let alone spoke to him. He understood that being Chief of security of such a big police force was probably a huge responsibility, but he was starting to get impatient with the lack of attention he was being shown. After all, the Grand Councilwoman had made it his mission to pick up the Chief before proceeding to catch the bad guys. PLUS, he hadn't even been briefed about the whole affair involving this gang yet. The Commander owed him an explanation. A big one at that!

The medical Officer bustled into the room after Gantu and headed straight towards the desk. He proceeded to pick up a hologram which displayed various charts and readings as he accessed it. He then looked over to Gantu before he spoke "wait here please," he said, walking over towards the door which led into the separate room. This time he didn't have to press any key-codes into any devices. He just had to press a button for the door to automatically open on him. "I just have to do a physical and psychological reading on the convict before the Chief and Commander arrive. I won't be a moment."

Gantu nodded and crossed his arms glumly as he watched the Officer enter the other room with the restrained prisoner. He couldn't help feeling he was getting rather bored of this. Ever since his arrival he was going from pillar to post, being expected to wait, listen and watch. When was he going to get de-briefed and introduced to his new partner? On Turo this would have never happened. They didn't have the time to mess him around. The Grand Councilwoman would see Gantu, de-brief him and then wish him luck before he proceeded to make arrangements for his next launch. But, as he was being constantly reminded, he was not on Turo. He was on the third moon of his home planet. Things worked a lot differently here. He had grown too accustomed to the Galactic Alliance, so much so, that he had completely forgotten about the traits of his old home.

Gantu and Reuben were disrupted from their solemn silence when suddenly the door beeped three times, just as it had when they first entered. It was soon followed by the door opening again. Suddenly another figure burst into the room. _'At last!'_ Gantu thought to himself _'I can finally meet Chief Zettar!'_

The figure who entered was not what Gantu had expected. It was a very young male Shaelek. Perhaps even a junior. He cautiously entered the room, carrying some paperwork of his own. He froze and stepped back in alarm when he first saw Gantu staring at him curiously. He certainly was jittery for an Officer in the police force. His arms shook violently, causing the paper to rattle about in his hands. His eyes were a surprising darkish blue and looked widened and alerted to everything around him. And his uniform looked slightly big on him. Was this really Chief Zettar? Was this shaky guy really Gantu's new partner?

"Oh, I am s-s-sorry for entering so abruptly sir," he stammered as he went to place the paper down on the desk. Gantu walked over to him and smiled softly.

"Not at all," Gantu placed out his hand and shook the shaky hand of the younger Shaelek "Chief Zettar, I presume?"

The younger Officer stepped back in alarm and his mouth and eyes widened in surprise. This certainly confused the already puzzled Captain of the Galactic Alliance. "S-sir, I am both honoured and privileged that you think I am the Chief. But I-I-I am j-just-"

"Corporal Verin I presume?" A voice interrupted. Gantu and the younger Shaelek both turned their heads to see Officer Orlax re-enter the room. The younger Officer nodded nervously and Gantu instantly let go of his hand, slightly regretting what had just happened.

"Y-y-yes sir!" The younger Shaelek stood to attention dramatically. Orlax merely brushed it off and spoke to him rather casually.

"Relax Corporal," he smiled, placing his hologram down on the table before grabbing his shoulder encouragingly. "You only have to stand to attention when the Commander and the Chief enter the room. I'm just another Officer, like you."

"Thank you sir," the Corporal relaxed, only a little "I'm just slightly nervous as all." Was this guy kidding? Slightly nervous? Gantu had seen headless Borjoones less petrified than him. And a Borjoone was a species often described as like a petrified chicken in a fox den.

"First interrogation, eh?" The slightly older Officer chuckled as the Rookie nodded. "Well good luck with this one," he turned to face the glass and gazed at the prisoner who was now resting casually against his seat. "He's gonna be a tough cookie to crack. Make sure your firm with him. His frame of mind is not as solid as most convicts."

The Corporal gulped and turned to face the glass. His nerves coming back on suddenly. Reuben nudged Gantu and shrugged his shoulders in a _'is he serious?'_ kind of way. Gantu returned his look and also shrugged his shoulder slightly. They weren't exactly sure what was going on here. Why was a mere Corporal in the room with them? Was he going to _'help'_ the Chief in getting this prisoner to confess? Well they'd need a guy a lot tougher than this one in order to get anything out of any criminal, let alone a guy twice his size is body and muscle mass. Gantu mentally face palmed himself. And to think he had mistaken this guy as the Chief of security? First off, he was way too young to rise through the ranks that quickly. That should have been a dead giveaway from the very start. And secondly, no Chief of security would be this nervous to do an interrogation. That was one of their major job roles. Arresting criminals, interrogating them and managing their capture and imprisonment was some of the the special tasks of the Chiefs of security on most planets. This even applied to the rules of the Galactic Alliance.

Suddenly another 3 beeps sounded off as yet another Officer entered through the door. _'At last!'_ Gantu thought. He was FINALLY going to meet his new partner.

"Commander!" Everyone but Gantu and Reuben stood to attention as none other but the older Commander himself entered the room. Gantu's face fell again. Where in the Creblock system was his new Chief of security? This was getting very irritating now.

"Hello Officer Orlax, Corporal Verin, Captain Gantu," the Commander then paused as he turned to Gantu and Reuben and pointed at Gantu's left shoulder with a _'I can't remember your name'_ look on his face. "And... Galley Officer Reuben! Of course." He then smiled up at Gantu and continued "I trust you had a nice lunch Captain?"

Gantu forced a fake smile as he gazed down, his eyes secretly glaring daggers, in the direction of Reuben. Gantu's eyes then shot back up to the unaware Commander and lied point blank to his face for the second time today. "Yes sir. It was very nice."

"Good, good," he beamed confidently, then turning swiftly to Orlax "thank you for bringing them here Officer Orlax. Captain Gantu is not aware of the layout of this facility. He's used to the police headquarters on Turo, which is a lot different than compared to here. I fear he would have gotten lost without you."

"It wasn't a problem sir," the Officer responded calmly "I was on my way down here myself to do my medical report on the convict before the Chief turned up."

"Speaking of whom," the Commander gazed about the room curiously "where is Zettar?"

"I don't know sir," the medical Officer said "But I am sure there is a valid reason for the Chief's lateness."

"I am sure there is," the Commander then turned to Gantu with a slight uneasy look about him "Chief Zettar is not usually late to interrogations, Captain Gantu. It's just, lately we've all been in uproar about this whole scandalous affair with these criminal gangs. But I'm sure the Grand Councilwoman has made you aware of that already."

"Yes sir," Gantu nodded "I do believe I-"

He was cut short by the Commander who continued to talk about their Chief with the highest of opinions. Gantu was getting pretty sick of hearing so much about this Chief of security without having the opportunity to meet him! He did have the right to. After all, he would be working with this Chief until all of these gangs were brought to justice. And that would take several months at the very least. "The Chief of security has had to work double time these past couple of weeks. We have been very lucky with Zettar's special police team. Without the information they were able to obtain from their captured and interrogated criminals, we would not be offering our help to you and the Grand Council of the Galactic Alliance."

"Yes, we have been deeply indebted to Chief Zettar's assistance." Officer Orlax joined in.

The Commander would have continued to boast about his Chief of security if it weren't for a certain beeping sound going off again. Gantu counted the three beeps like they were an often and occurring thing, since they were becoming all-too-familiar sounds to his ears. The automatic door opened once again and an unexpected figure entered the room, complete with documents being held in one hand and a cup of some sort, with a steamy liquid inside, in the other. Gantu and Reuben both felt their jaws drop as a really unexpected person made themselves known to them both. It was a female Shaelek. The first one they had seen all day. And when she entered the room, everyone, but Gantu and Reuben, smiled and stood to attention.

This couldn't be... could it?

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><p>Authors note: Dun, dun, DUN! It'll all be revealed in the next chapter folks! Again, if you have any questions about any references, please feel free to ask in a review or a private message. And as for chapter 5, I can promise you it will be rather... explosive. It will be a lot better than this one. Stay tuned and I will update soon. Thanks for reading!<p> 


	5. Chapter 5: First Impressions

Chapter 5: First impressions

Authors note: WARNING this chapter has many of the themes I have described before. Swearing, sexual themes and violence/bodily harm are involved in this chapter. You have been warned.

Anyway, this is the defining chapter which I have been building up to since the beginning point of the story. Hopefully you'll all have as much fun reading this one as I did writing it. Enjoy!

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><p>Gantu's face fell in awe when he saw the figure bustle through the door. She was a female! A female Shaelek! He hadn't seen a female of his own species for so long that it seemed rather strange to him to see a member of the opposite sex stand before him. But by god, she was... dare he say, gorgeous. Her body was petit, just like the average female Shaelek was supposed to be. Unfortunately, he had found that many females in his past acquaintance had let themselves go physically, meaning that they were fat and ugly and not very attractive. But this was not the case with the one who stood before him. Her skin was a rich and creamy grey colour, slightly lighter than Gantu's, but a lot smoother and more refined. Her tusks at each side of her head were a lot more curved than his own and hung gracefully on her beautifully shaped head. And when she turned in the direction of Gantu, her eyes... wow! He had never seen anything like it. Most Shaeleks, both males and females, generally had light blue glowing eyes which contrasted against their dark skin. But this one had illuminated striking eyes with the strange colour of purple. It was said that the more rare and exotic members of the Shaelek species had more refined tusks with a particular shape and light purple eyes, but Gantu had never in fact seen one upon living on the planet. Well he hadn't, until now at least. Of course, female Shaeleks did not grow muscle. It was not in their natural body structure. The females of his species were not usually the ones known to fight or be leaders. They were usually the stay-at-home sort who married off early in order to reproduce and start a family. But Gantu somehow doubted that this rare specimen was one of those kinds of females. She reminded him of his ex-girlfriend, Cynta, you know, BEFORE the ugly transformation. But her posture and the way she entered the room was not as elegant and graceful as most of the females. She was obviously a worker here. Her uniform said it all. She wore the standard uniform of the other Shaelek officers but her outfit fitted her body perfectly. The blue outfit with purple lines running down the sides of her shoulders, waist, legs and even down her neck, made her outfit look slightly more appealing on her body than it did on her male colleges. Her shirt sleeves reached just over the top of her shoulders, the skin on her small arms visible and very smooth. And the greyish belt around her slender waist had a purple buckle with a symbol he recognized. It was actually a letter... the Galactic alphabet's letter 'Z'. There was also another symbol of the same colour on her left shoulder, another letter, this time being the letter 'S' in the same language. Gantu had noticed the same symbol on the shoulders of the other police Officers, and guessed that the S stood for Shaelekar since all of those wearing the uniform were working for their police force. But what did her 'Z' shaped belt buckle stand for? That was something Gantu was about to find out.<p>

"Ahh," the Commander smiled watching as the female entered the room. She was carrying charts and other pieces of paperwork in one hand and a cup in the other. Inside her mouth, she balanced some sort of cake between her teeth. Obviously she was just returning from her break.

The female immediately placed her paperwork down on the desk in front of her and took her cake out of her mouth to speak. And when she spoke, her voice was rather soft and feminine but her tone sounded very... professional. "Afternoon Gentlemen," she remarked as she glanced around at the medical Officer and the uneasy Rookie. Both Officers, unexpectedly, stood to attention and placed their hands up as a greeting gesture in response to her salutation. Gantu and Reuben remained unmoved, stood in the far corner of the room with the Commander stood in front of them. The Commander seemed rather at ease when the unknown female entered. And he, unlike the other two Officers, did not stand to attention. The female was completely oblivious to the presence of the Captain and Galley Officer as she did not even glance in their general direction. She proceeded to take a bite out of her cake before speaking again. "Sorry, I'm late," she mouthed through chewing her food "the teleportation tubes are down, again! I had to take the confiscated contraband all the way up to the weapons specialists on the top floor to be analyzed."

"Well," the medical Officer began, pointing over at the jittery Rookie "we haven't been waiting long. Corporal Verin here, arrived just two minutes ago."

The female stepped forward and inspected the Corporal while taking a quick sip of her drink. She smiled at the unnerving newbie and patted him on the shoulder with the side of her cake-occupied hand, careful not to get any of her food down the Officer's clean and tidy uniform. "Welcome to the team Rookie," she began glancing over at the medical Officer before looking back at Verin, "I am told this is your first interrogation?"

"Yes, Chief Zettar," the Corporal stood to attention rather dramatically, much to the amusement of the female Shaelek.

In the corner of the room however, the rejected Captain and his Galley Officer were in bewilderment at the mention of the female being Chief Zettar. This surely wasn't the Officer they had witnessed so skilfully take down several armed convicts earlier. Could it? Though, the feed was in such low quality, the figures could barely be made out. So perhaps it was possible. Gantu had assumed from the very beginning that the Chief was a male! The Grand Councilwoman and the Commander never once mentioned that Chief Zettar was in fact a female Shaelek. This changed things... Gantu was never a sexist sort of guy. Heck, he had as much respect for the female Officers in the Galactic Armada as much as the male ones. But on his planet, very few females got into the police force. And it was in fact a very unlikely thing that they would ever exceed the rank of Corporal. Yet here he was, in the presence of a female Chief! And this was to be his new partner? He was now more unsure of himself. Would he be able to cope with a female of his own species on board the same ship as him? He hadn't spoken to a member of the opposite sex in his species in such a long time. This would potentially make things difficult for him. But just as long as she was a respectable Officer, who treated him with the same amount of respect as she did her Commander here, then there shouldn't be a problem.

Gantu's excessive staring on the female was cut to a quick halt when his right tusk was nudged repeatedly by Reuben. Gantu turned his head and his eyes locked onto his companion. Reuben did not say a word. He just winked at the uneasy Gantu and then gazed back at the unaware female Officer, who in fact was now revealed to be the Chief of security they had heard so much about.

"You know, I don't wish to sound rude here Chief," the medical Officer spoke then pointing down at her cake and cup with a cautious eye " but you're not supposed to eat or drink in here."

The Chief of security rolled her eyes and shook her head and then proceeded to take another bite out of her cake "you know what Officer Orlax?" She began, her tone suddenly rather snide and sarcastic. "You try going 8 hours without a break and do a police pursuit and several arrests while you're at it. And then we'll see if you're not starving by the end of it."

The medical Officer didn't pursue the matter further. He dared not to. He was brave enough to speak out of turn to a higher ranked Officer over something petty as a 'no eat or drink' rule, but only got what he deserved with a sarcastic retort. This response began to show Gantu and Reuben who they were dealing with. Her true character was about to come into the light.

Chief Zettar finally took her last bite of food before proceeding to pick up the documents she had placed down on the desk as soon as she had entered the room. She glanced at them briefly before shoving them in the direction of the medical Officer. "So, what's his medical report like?"

"An unusual sort," Officer Orlax replied briefly looking at the documents before following the Chief's example by looking back at the prisoner through the glass. Gantu followed the gaze of the pair and realized that there was someone in there. DUH! Of course, there was one of the criminals from the pursuit sat in there. Gantu had completely forgotten about it upon the attractive female entering the room. He had watched the Chief with a very curious and admirable eye from afar as she spoke to the medical Officer and the Rookie accompanying her for the interrogation they were about to do. Gantu was still awestruck by her demeanour. She had not looked in his general direction once, let alone introduced herself to him personally. Yet he was already confident that she would be a good additional recruit to his crew. He didn't know what he was so worried about. But as always, he had overreacted about having a new member from his species on his crew. Surely this female would cause him no trouble. She seemed respectable enough. And Gantu's eye for her was also improving his general opinion of her. But of course something at the back of his mind was still weary. Remembering what some people had told him in the past, _'looks can be deceiving'_.

"How so?" The Chief continued the conversation with the medical Officer as Gantu was continuously admiring her from afar. The medical Officer looked down at the chart he had in his hand and then gazed back up at his superior with an awkward guise on his face.

"Well, since he was the only conscious member at the crash site, he did receive some medical attention. He has no real injuries and appears unscathed. However, his psychological tests are dramatically different to his physical ones." Officer Orlax paused and lifted a hand to his mouth before coughing awkwardly. The female's brow lifted itself in confusion as she awaited him to continue giving her the report.

"Yes, Officer Orlax?"

"Well, he appears to-" he coughed twice "ahem... have stimulated erotically drawn fixations on his mind." He squinted his eyes in embarrassment at what he just said as his Chief just shook her head "I suspect the crash did something to his mind."

"Or that he is a real big pervert," Zettar frowned through the glass at the prisoner as she placed a hand on her hip. She shook her head with a slightly undesired look fixed itself upon on her pretty face. Obviously she had dealt with this kind of scum before. Gantu wondered how she would approach such a criminal, since she was a member of the opposite sex and all of that. But, by the look of it, she looked very calm and collective about the whole affair. Unlike the unfortunate Rookie who stood nearby, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. Proceeding to take another quick sip of her drink, she slammed her cup down on the table, alarming the poor Rookie. Her vibrant purple eyes then fixed themselves on Corporal Verin who twitched rather sporadically when he noticed her look at him. "Are you ready for your first interrogation, Corporal?"

"Y-y-yes Chief," he stuttered. She beamed in his direction and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry Rookie," she eased before she began shoving him gently towards the door which led into the interrogation room. "I'll be with you, every step of the way. We'll try letting you ask the questions first, and if he doesn't crack, I'll take a shot at him."

"Y-y-yes ma'am," the Rookie responded before the door shut behind them and they entered the room behind the glass window where the prisoner was situated.

As they left, the Commander grinned and his eyes followed the pair out of the room before his head turned behind and he looked expectantly upon the forgotten Captain. "So..." he smiled, crossing his arms and turning his full body towards the uneasy Captain "what do you think?"

"W-well," Gantu gulped placing a hand on his cheek to caress his skin gently "I was never expecting her to be... a female."

The Commander's smile suddenly faded away and his head turned in confusion at Gantu, rather alarmingly. Gantu watched the expression on Turak change within a split second, and he knew that the Commander had taken offence to this.

"That is not a problem is it?" The Commander questioned "because I do not like sexist Officers in my services you know."

"No, no, no, no!" Gantu jumped in waving his hand erratically in defence "I did not mean it like that. I am not a sexist at all. I have many female Officers in my crew. It's just, the Grand Councilwoman never told me that your Chief was a female. And I had assumed that a person with such a record from our planet would be a male Officer."

The Commander nodded. He understood completely where Gantu was coming from. The females of their species were, unfortunately, not as free minded as the males. The males were able to take whatever career path they wanted, while the females were expected, by society, to marry and have children as soon as they had left their education. That was something which would have happened to Gantu if he had chosen to stay with the Shaelek police force instead of joining the Galactic Armada. He would have probably married Cynta and raised a family with her. And while his mind was rejoicing over the fact he hadn't done that, a feeling at the back of his mind made him regret his decision to leave. In some ways he would have liked to settle down and have a family. But if he had done that, all the action and adventure he had been through in his lifetime would have not existed. Not to mention the fact that he would have never met Reuben if he had stayed to have a normal life on his home planet.

"Yes, Chief Zettar is a remarkable Officer," the Commander finally commented as they watched the door on the other side of the glass window open. Corporal Verin was the first to enter the room with the restricted and bound prisoner before Chief Zettar entered shortly afterwards. "I believe she will adjust to your Galactic Armada ways quite quickly."

The 3 male Shaeleks: Gantu, Turak and Orlax and the tiny genetic experiment Reuben, who was still perched on Gantu's shoulder, watched as the interrogation began. But neither Gantu or Reuben were aware of what was about to happen next...

On the other side of the glass in the interrogation facility, the prisoner only known by the name Oxas, sat at the table casually, even though his hands were bound with an electronic wrist binder and his neck had an explosive chip built-in. Purely for precaution purposes of course. But let's just say, if he were to try and escape, it would take the push of a mere button and KABOOM his head would be blown off. This was a procedure the Shaelek police force did on their prisoners to make them think twice about escaping. And so far, it had proved a big success. But this was one of the many methods of criminal treatment which the Galactic Federation did not look too keenly on. But if it worked on Shaelekar, they would not have the power to stop it. The wrist binders on the prisoner however were exactly identical to the ones they used on Gantu's ship. They sent off an electrical surge with each struggle a convict made. Of course, the gruff tall Shaelek convict would have towered over the small jittery Rookie Officer, who was the first person to enter the room. But luckily for Corporal Verin, the unnaturally muscular thug would remained seated throughout the entire interrogation. Unless he wanted 30,000 volts of electricity to shoot through his wrists.

The younger Corporal had to be shoved into the room by the persistent female at the other side of the door. He was trembling with fear. The typical behaviour of a Rookie in the police force. They were usually taken out of their education only to be forced, usually by their pushy parents, to sign up to the police force, where they would be thrown, head first, into the deep end. The older Officer's, especially anyone above the rank of Lieutenant, would treat any Rookie like scum, in order to wipe away their jittery traits and bring out the fighter in them. Their force did not run on cowardly wimps. It ran on pure strength and the tough natures of each of its members. The Corporal would soon learn this. This was his first interrogation so it was expected to be rough for him. And if he could survive this with his head intact, it may prove as a confidence boost for him for his upcoming professional future.

The prisoner's head raised from the table as an objecting Rookie was shoved into the room before the door slammed behind him. He was carrying paperwork in his jittery hands which he managed to raise up to his face as he stepped closer to the convict. He read a couple of sentences mentally before reading the name of the convict aloud anxiously.

"Prisoner XW121," he pressed the paper close to his face as he read from it. "L-locally known as Oxus. Y-y-you are brought here on the charges of petty theft, severe theft, phys-physical assault, murder and most of all, the dealings of illegal weaponry as well as drugs. I ha-have come here to ask you some questions."

"Hey, hey, watch it kiddo," the convict teased, mocking the young Corporal's age and the way he addressed him. "Don't lose your cool with me. I may just break down and confess everything right here, right now."

"If only we would be so lucky," a voice replied from behind the door. The female Chief finally followed the young Corporal as she entered the room, her stance kept proud and authoritarian. The convict merely sat back and smirked mischievously, obviously giving her the eye as she swiftly entered the room. The young Corporal was a bit overwhelmed and didn't know what to do. Luckily, the Chief was trained for this kind of thing and directed him in every direction.

"Wooooooo hot cakes!" The convict's mouth hung open with a very perverse grin. He was checking her out. She didn't look bothered by this at all, the firm look on her face showed that she was all too familiar with scum like this. "Where have you been all my life?"

The Rookie's shifting eyes watched the Chief pull a chair out at the table and gestured for him to sit down, he hesitantly obliged as she pulled out her own chair and sat down next to him. The Chief grabbed the documents off of the young male Shaelek and placed them down on the table gently. And when she looked up at the sexually-occupied crook, she merely smiled softly as she placed her hands before her.

From behind the glass of the interrogation room, Gantu watched as the Chief merely shook off any sexual comments the criminal was making about her. It amazed him how well she took it. He wondered what she was really thinking inside her head. She was probably cursing every Shaelekean curse word under the star Creblock (the star which was their equivalent to the Earth's Sun). Of course, without the speakers which were set up on the table, the Captain and the rest of the Officers present would not be able to hear what was going on since the glass was sound proof. Reuben's eyes shifted about the room. Officer Orlax, Commander Turak and Gantu all stood in a horizontal line, each with their arms crossed, all eyes glued through the glass on the convict's interrogation.

"They say confession is good for the soul," the Chief said, her voice surprisingly very soothing. "Got anything to say convict?"

"You know what else is good for the soul?" The prisoner merely peered down, eyes now gazing at the direction of the female's breasts. Officer Orlax was right, this guy was a really sexually fixated sort. This could be a problem... yet, at the same time, it could also be an advantage if she went about it correctly. "I like a good pair myself," he gestured, his bound hands making their way across the table. Behind the glass Gantu uneasily held his arms against his chest. He was not about to actually touch her, was he? He certainly had guts. But what was going to happen afterwards? "And you girl," he continued then leaning back again "you, don't disappoint."

She chuckled and placed a hand to her face heartily. What in the Carina Nebula was she doing? Certainly a woman of any species would be uneasy in this situation. Yet her posture was gentle and cool. She was certainly playing his little game to her own advantage. She then gazed over to Corporal Verin, who's head remained low and shaky as he gazed at the table. She nudged him and his head shot up and gazed directly at her. After tilting her head in the direction of the perverted convict, he was urged to start his own questioning.

"Mr. Oxus," he began, his voice never losing that nerved tone "W-where were you taking the stolen contraband?"

The criminal sneered in response. "Kid," he boasted, "you're gonna have to try a lot harder than that."

"Y-you are aware of the charges you're facing, right?" The Corporal stammered, sweat was pouring off of him and he looked like he was about to break down under the strain. "Y-you could be put away for the r-r-rest of y-your life."

"Yeah, yeah," Oxus nodded his head coolly and kept his tone thickly layered with both sarcasm and a sense of a devious nature. He then gazed over at Zettar once again and leant forwards across the table. His blue eyes making eye contact with her dazzling and unusual purple ones. His sharp teeth at the top of his mouth went outwards and daringly touched his bottom lip. His face suddenly looked very playful and pleasing as he completely ignored the younger Rookie and focussed his full attention on the older female. "Say, why don't you say we ditch the kid and do something... _'off the books'_?"

Zettar merely sighed and smiled as she leant back in her seat with dignity. She knew at this point that this convict was not going to snap while the jittery newbie was present in the room. They had chosen the wrong sort of convict for his first interrogation. They usually had those big, buff guys who remained firm and aggressive. It was rare that a convict was relaxed and overly sexual with their words. Of course there were some previous convicts who were like that around the female Officer, but the Chief had dealt with them, and she could deal with this one too. But only if she was alone. The Rookie would only get in the way. She saw this as a time for a lesson, not only for the Rookie, but also the convict himself. She gazed over towards Corporal Verin who tensed as she placed a hand on his shaky shoulder. She smiled encouragingly and she spoke with a very relaxing voice.

"Say, Corporal, why don't you go grab yourself a coffee break?" She urged him as she gazed back at the smirking convict and returned his daring expression "I'll take care of things here."

"Y-yes ma'am," the Corporal hastily stood up to leave and departed from the room to join the Commander and the others who were not visible from behind the glass. Zettar watched him go before she slowly and sensually turned her body back towards the convict. His eyes widened teasingly and she placed an elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand as her grey feminine lips brushed against each other.

"So," she began her voice now very tantalising "I got rid of him."

"I know," the convict also leant forward onto the table. "And you look more gorgeous without the Tommy tag-along in the room."

She arose from her seat slowly and began circling him as his eyes were locked onto key parts of her body throughout. She placed her hands behind her back and spoke to him gently. "Listen," she began, her tone not losing its quirkiness for a moment "I would really love it if you told me what you were intending to do with those weapons."

"I'd love to tell ya babe," he rested back in his chair and tilted his head to one side. "But these wrist band thingies make me feel uncomfortable. I love the whole rough theme you've got going here, but this is a bit too extreme for my tastes."

The Chief paused a moment and momentarily looked away. She stood there indecisively, unsure whether it was wise to do as the convict was requesting. But she figured, if she wanted to play his little game right, it would be wise to do as he said. She would continue doing this for several more minutes before she got him right where she wanted him. Chief Zettar finally turned back towards the criminal and placed her hand in her trouser pocket and picked out a small electronic key. She then placed it inside the lock of the wrist restraints and watched as it automatically unhinged them. She took them off of Oxus and proceeded to place them gently down on the table. And when she turned back to the erotically-fixated convict, he did something which surprised her.

"You know," he began smoothly standing up as he spoke, his hand placing itself on her behind roughly. She almost jumped in surprise as a result of this, but luckily she remained calm and collective. Just a little longer and she would have him right where she wanted him. "I would tell you everything, if you made it worth my while..."

Zettar gazed up at the big muscular Shaelek with a surprised, yet sly, gaze. She moved closer to him, turning so that she now faced him directly. He was beginning to force her closer and closer till they were practically inches away from the other. Behind the glass Reuben's eyes were widened in disgust and horror. This situation was turning too gross for him to handle. Was this the way they interrogated prisoners here? Using their female Officer to woo the ego of the male criminals? That certainly wasn't fair on her. Sure, both Reuben and Gantu knew this was just an act she was playing in order to gain information from the crook. But so far, it was not very successful. All they had gotten out of him was a whole lot of sexual stuff. Nothing relevant to the case at all. Reuben's eyes turned in the direction of Gantu. He studied his face carefully. He had suspected his best friend had a _'thing'_ for this female just as soon as she stepped in the room. Reuben knew Gantu wasn't really a favourite among the females on his home planet. He had already admitted that he had only one relationship throughout his entire life which didn't end well. But was Gantu's mind becoming like that criminal in the other room? Over one unusual female? He hoped not. But Gantu's expression was surprisingly neutral, just like the other Shaeleks in the room. Commander Turak and Officer Orlax looked surprisingly at ease about the whole situation before them. They stood, hands behind their backs, watching the Chief as she wooed the sexually aggressive dominant male. The Rookie however, watched with horror in his eyes. Obviously he was unaware that this was all an act. His small mind hadn't fathomed it out yet. Corporal Verin felt the urge to speak up to the Commander. Just to ask what was about to happen.

"Commander I-" He was suddenly halted as the Commander shoved a hand up near in the air. He did not wish to be interrupted for what was about to happen. The Commander knew how his interrogations worked, and he did not need a new Officer interrupting the point of climax of their operation.

The female Shaelek grinned as she inched closer to the convict's face. She placed a hand on his rough skinned face and then spoke out slowly "What did you have in mind?" She teased purposely. He inched closer to her face and whispered to her.

"I think you know." He responded, eyes beginning to close as his lips were inches away from her own. She simply smiled and leant back slightly before doing something which blew both Reuben and Gantu's minds away.

The plot twisted faster than a Supernova went BOOM as the muscular convict, who was about to kiss the Chief, was suddenly knocked aggressively back and he flew onto the floor, knocking his head off of the table as he went. The Chief of security punched him! She literally socked the muscular brute before he did anything sexual to her. Gantu's eyes widened to their fullest capacity and his head flew back in surprise.

"Uh, oh, plot twist," Reuben commented as he witnessed the female Chief punch the taller and unnaturally built male Shaelek with a huge amount of force. Her head was now focussed on the floor where the convict was now wiping the blood which gushed down the side of his head from where he had knocked it on the table. Her fist was pumped with aggression and her eyes went from sweet and flirtatious to full on deadly with rage. Gantu had seen nothing like it in his entire life! This Chief was shocking him, more and more.

"Wow," Oxus blinked rapidly as he regained his composure "I never saw that coming." His tone then returned to its flirtatious sounding as he continued "You're one bad girl."

"Tell me where you were taking the weapons!" She demanded, obviously no longer playing his little sexual game. Her mannerisms were the exact opposite to moments before. She was now playing bad cop. And not anything sexually bad either. The fire in her eyes showed him that she was deadly serious.

"Awww come on sweet cheeks, I was just getting-"

She grabbed his tusk before he could finish and belligerently dragged him across the room. He winced in pain as she picked him up and proceeded to spin him around so that his back was now facing her. She grabbed his right arm with such force and pressed him violently against the glass. The pressure soon became unbearable, and he knew now that she was not playing by his rules any more.

"You're pushing my patience convict!" She roared her tiny body pushing him against the glass with such force. No one would have suspected that a woman with such a physique as she had, would have the power to stop and control a convict twice her size in muscle mass. It was his surprise which held him back from getting out of her grip. Well that and the fact that she was now twisting his arm in unnatural directions. "You were dealing illegal arms in that weapons plant, with an unknown associate. WHO WAS HE?!"

The convict dared her threatening tone and smirked. Struggling to turn his head against the glass, his eyes lit up with a fiery glint which taunted her. She tightened her grip on his arm and watched as he struggled to speak. "You won't get me to talk!" He boasted confidently. His flirtatious tone now replaced with a snide one. "Go ahead and threaten me for all you care. I know you don't have the strength to break any of my bones. You're a petty female!"

He had found her breaking point. Gantu watched as the overly raunchy criminal was now taunting her with sexist remarks. Gantu himself had never seen a female Shaelek take on a male like she had just done. Heck, he hadn't ever seen a female pick a fight before in his whole life. The females of his species were always a more gentle kind when compared to the males. It was usually the males who fought over the females. Not the other way round. But here, he was witnessing a female of his own kind challenge a steroid pumped felon who she had already taken down once today but in riot gear. Now she was just in her plain uniform, unarmed and only had her own slim body to challenge him with. She had turned from sweet and kind, to deadly flirtatious, then finally to fem-fatale. Gantu was now unsure if he could put up with her erratic behaviour on board his own ship.

"Don't try me convict!" She warned him, her hand twisting his arm more.

"Argh!" He cried slightly as his overly steroid pumped muscle was beginning to feel the tension of her nerve pressures. "G-go ahead." He managed to stammer. Obviously up for a challenge. " Do it! DO IT! I dare you!"

She swiftly let go of him. Much to the surprise of everyone behind the glass as well as the prisoner himself. He chuckled and grabbed his almost twisted wrist and caressed it gently with his other hand. Oxus merely shook his head and a taunting tut escaped from his mouth. "Should have known," he gazed over at her "you may act like a male Chief, but under all of that tough outer shell, you are merely a dainty, stupid, fem-"

The offender suddenly felt a huge burst of pain from his right wrist. He hadn't turned away and blinked for a split second before the female Officer suddenly came at him with such power that she grabbed his arm again and this time used all of her might to snap it. Behind the glass Reuben cringed and buried his head into Gantu's tusk as he squirmed in disgust at the sight. Gantu on the other hand merely gasped aloud and his arms flew away from his chest to his side.

"SHIT!" The convict blurted, his eyes swelling and tearing up in pain. She instantly let go after snapping his arm and he recoiled in so much pain that he almost fainted on sight. His stinging eyes dared look upon the contorted bone which now stuck out unnaturally from where she had broken it. "ARE YOU FUCKING MAD?!"

"Tell me, who was your contact?!" She demanded, pacing around him, her arms behind her back. "Tell me, or I twist your other arm like a pretzel stick!"

"I-I-I don't know!" He stammered, wincing violently through the violent spasms of pain.

"YOU'RE LYING!" She roared, grabbing his tusk with her arm before she threw the already off-balance convict to the floor harshly. She towered over him, kicking and punching him on the occasion as he was now before her, begging for mercy.

Gantu was speechless. He knew that his species were all authoritarian and serious with the way they treated their prisoners, but this was a very extreme way to go about it. But at the same time, he had done similar things to guys his own size when they defied him. It was in his nature, as it was evident it was also in hers. Their species were extremely aggressive. They had descended from ancient warriors who were born and bred to kill without mercy. Nowadays, it was not that extreme, but the police force enforced a no mercy policy on their prisoners. They were scum who needed to be put back in place. And this Chief was certainly showing this convict who was boss. She had managed to tactfully toy with his inner male dominance and exploit it. This showed true skill. Though Gantu had a slight feeling that she was a bit too aggressive. That would be a problem if she was not kept in check. The Galactic Alliance used different approaches to get information out of prisoners. And if this Chief of security did not follow those approaches, she would certainly not be viewed highly among the Galactic Council. But the Commander had told him that "she will adjust to your Galactic Armada ways quite quickly" So Gantu had nothing to worry about, right?

"I-I SWEAR I DON'T KNOW SHIT! HONEST! LET ME GO!" He squirmed as she pressed one of her sturdy feet on his behind and grabbed his good arm forcefully. She pulled the front end of his body up via his arm so that his back was slowly rising up in the air. Was she really going to do what Gantu thought?

"Tell me where you were taking the weapons or so help me, I will snap your back into TWO SEPERATE PIECES!" The Chief persisted with her violent tone as the squirming convict let out yells and screams of agony as his body was contorted in all different directions.

The convict continued to defy her, much to his own dismemberment. She crouched down and pressed her fingers on the point where his rib cage was. Pressing down harshly, a small cracking sound made its way through the speakers. Reuben shook his head and shuddered. He knew that sound all too well.

"ARGH, BLITZNAK!" Was Oxus' only response. Zettar pressed her fingers down further and continued to pull against his own body mass, his back now beginning to contort like his arm did moments before.

"I'll give you 3 seconds to respond before your back becomes like a packet of uncooked spaghetti!" She shouted, twisting his arm further as she pulled him back gradually "1...2..."

"OK, OK, OK!" He bellowed before she could count to 3 and do any more damage to his physical apparel. "I'LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING! JUST LET ME GO!"

Her face remained firm and she kept the pressure on the poor prisoner, much to his protest. "Not until you tell me where those weapons were going," she told him. Her foot readjusted itself and she now stopped pulling him back. But she did not ease up for a second. She was finally getting the words she wanted to hear.

"ARGH!" He roared, his eyes clenching tight as he tried to speak up amongst all the pain he was going through "w-w-we were gonna pack all the boxes of weapons and take them to the planet Meltrok!"

"Who's your boss?!" She persisted.

"Honest to Blitznak, I don't know! We were gonna take them to our drop off point on the planet, where one of our associates was gonna take it to the big guy in charge!" The convict finally broke down, he squirmed underneath his challenging interrogator as he tried to break free from her grip. "The guy we were gonna rendezvous with is called Zellious Glornack! We honestly don't know the big guy in charge!"

From behind the glass Gantu froze, his eyes widened and his mouth unhinged rather unnaturally. Speechless was an understatement on how he currently felt. His failures were coming back to haunt him once again. But his entire apparel of disbelief was also left with confusion. These criminals were related to the crimes of Zellious Glornack? The crook who had just escaped his own capture? The purpose of witnessing this interrogation was now clear to him. He wasn't just here to see his new partner's skills in the interrogation room at all. It was also related to the whole affair with these organized crime gangs starting up all over the galaxy. They really were on his home planet... and this Chief was certainly doing her best to take these guys down.

"Where is the rendezvous point?" She asked him, her tone firm but now a lot less aggressive than compared to before.

"East s-side of the main city," he managed to say "we were gonna meet him there in 2 days and lay low for a while. But honest to my mother's grave! We don't know anything else!"

Chief Zettar looked up. She had heard all that she had wanted to hear. Before she let go of the convict she smiled and her aggressive voice now softened back to the way it had before she had turned violent. "There, I told you confession was good for the soul." She took her foot off of the prisoner and released her grip on his arm. He did not bother to get up off of the floor. He was in way too much pain to even attempt such a thing. The Chief then proceeded to hold her thumb in the air towards the window and spoke "that enough of a confession for you Commander Turak?"

Gantu watched on the other side of the glass as the Commander himself picked up the microphone off of the desk and grinned as he responded to her "yes Chief Zettar, you have done well." He placed the microphone back down and she made her way towards the exit. Gantu watched as she strode away confidently away from her broken down opponent. But before she could press the button for the door to open, a voice broke out.

"FUCKING PSYCHOTIC BITCH!" Oxus bellowed through his whines and winces of pain. She turned back around and folded her arms teasingly.

"Sticks and stones may break your bones, but names will not break me," she responded before pressing the button and exiting the room with a sense of pride about her. Moments later, the other door beeped and the same bold figure bustled into the room once more. She clapped both of her hands against the other boldly as she then made her way over to Officer Orlax. He proceeded to pick up his hologram chart and made his way towards the door where the Chief had just entered. "He's all yours Orlax." She told him, her confident grin now visible from the other end of the room where Gantu and Reuben were situated.

"Very good ma'am." The medical Officer responded as he pushed the hologram in her direction "just sign here and I'll go and see to my patient."

Reuben in particular was a lot more unnerved than his taller, more muscled companion. He had witnessed many interrogations but never before had he seen a convict break down (literally) like that. This reminded him of the pro-wrestling matches he watched on TV. But this time it was a female tackling a male. Now he knew why they needed a medical Officer on standby. He had never realized how aggressive Gantu's kind could be. It made him thank Polluxar that Gantu was a big softy underneath his big strong muscles. But he wasn't sure whether he would get away with teasing this new Chief they were about to employ. He liked his bones intact, thank you very much. His head turned in the direction of Gantu. His expression was a mixture of shock, surprise and an uncertain look that Reuben could not make out. He almost looked like he was, impressed? Oh brother, Gantu wasn't serious was he? Reuben was not entirely sure what Gantu thought about this female, but he knew one thing. If he liked her, he would never stand a chance with her. If some hard ass guy like that prisoner could be taken down that easily by such a dainty female of the same species, Gantu would not stand a chance.

"You see that Corporal?" She questioned, turning to face the Rookie after she had signed the hologram Officer Orlax had given her. Orlax proceeded to go into the other room to tend to the injured convict as she made herself known to everyone else. The Rookie was more speechless than anyone else in the room. Poor guy looked like he had just peed himself. "**That**, is how you treat your prisoners! You can't just ask questions and expect a straight answer. You have to be tough and assertive! Remember that."

The Corporal did not say a word, he just nodded and gazed down at the floor. Reuben knew that he was instantly regretting joining the Shaelek police force. And he did not blame him one bit. They were all psychopaths! Aggressive and too authoritarian for words. No wonder Gantu was not looking forward to going back home. Just imagine what a typical family dinner times were like! He shuddered to think.

"So you just had to break his arm instead? What kind of interrogation do you call that?!" A voice broke out rather rudely from the other end of the room. Everyone's gaze turned to the corner of the room. Gantu turned his head to Reuben once again. He had opened his huge mouth again! What had he told him about... oh, never mind!

The Chief crossed her arms and her brow rose up rather sceptically. She edged herself away from the Corporal and headed over towards the direction of the Commander. As she stepped forward, her feet gently touched the floor. She was not angry or shocked, just amused and rather confused. Gantu felt his hand rub against his eye in embarrassment. This was the first time she had finally looked at the pair upon her arrival, and she was viewing them the way those guys in the canteen viewed them earlier. All because Reuben could not keep his sandwich consuming mouth shut! He made a mental note to pummel him just as soon as they were alone together.

"Commander," Chief Zettar waltzed over and leaned in towards her superior with a very confused expression on her face. She then spoke rather quietly but her voice was still able to be picked up by the pair in the room. "Who's the mutant teddy bear?"

_'Is she freaking serious? The teddy bear thing AGAIN?!'_ Reuben mentally screamed in fury. Twice today, by the Commander and now the Chief of security, he had been called a mutant teddy bear. What was the deal with that? He looked nothing like a teddy bear! He was a illegal genetic experiment, made by a mad scientist from Quelte Quan, who had the abilities to do things that she could only dream of. He would have argued back at this but Gantu was quicker to respond this time and grabbed the pesky sandwich making experiment off of his shoulder and held him between his hands as he struggled to break free.

The Commander quickly snapped back into reality and his eyes snapped with him. Finally realizing Gantu and Reuben were still present in his company, he spoke. "Oh, I have been very rude with my introductions." He then stood to attention in the way of Gantu and gestured towards the brow arched female who was now gazing directly at him "Captain Gantu, this is Chief Zellah Zettar of the Shaelek police force." Gantu felt a lump arise in the back of his throat when he first heard the mention of the Chief's full name. Zellah. That was a really nice name. Actually, as he had recalled, it was taken from the name of one of their worshipped Goddess', Zelless, Goddess of warriors. Now it all made sense. It suited her traits quite well. But Gantu's nerves were suddenly coming back to him as the female was introduced to him. She did not look too impressed, judging by her stance. Her expression was hard to make out, but he knew that it was to do with what Reuben had just blurted out. He was ruining his chances of making a good impression with anyone today. But in this case it was even worse. The Commander then gestured over to Gantu from the perspective of Zellah and beamed at her. "Zellah, this is Captain Gantu of the Galactic Alliance," he then sneered as Reuben pushed his head through the clenched hands of Gantu. "And his Galley Officer, Reuben."

The Chief tilted her head at Gantu for several moments without saying a word. She studied his face and his posture carefully. Gantu felt a rush of uneasiness come about him. What on Polluxar was she thinking about him? Did she hate him? Was she amused by him? Did she think him a fool? Finally when she spoke, a small professional smile appeared on her face. She unfolded her arms and placed one hand before him courteously. Gantu instantly responded to this by dropping Reuben to the floor. The poor experiment fell and yelped slightly as he collided with the floor from approximately 15 feet from the ground. No one paid any attention to him though. Gantu's gaze was fixed on her, and hers was on him.

"Ah," she beamed as the Captain returned her friendly gesture of a hand shake "so this is the famous Captain Gantu?" Her features softened, much to the added embarrassment of Gantu "It is a pleasure to meet you, Captain."

Gantu swallowed and felt her hand slip into his. He felt her skin, it was softer than it looked. So smooth and refined, he hadn't touched a female of his own species in years. Not wanting to look like an incompetent bumbling idiot, he grasped her hand and shook it. Her grasp was tight, surprisingly tight for a female of her size. Yet again, she had just taken down a guy twice Gantu's size in muscle mass, so this was hardly that shocking to him.

"It is nice to finally make your acquaintance Chief Zettar," Gantu smiled as she released her grip on his hand "I have heard nothing but good things about you."

She beamed at him and nodded "as have I about you Captain," she returned his compliment. The Commander suddenly interrupted the two's conversation as he spoke to the Chief directly, this time a more concerned expression formed on his face.

"Sorry to interject here Captain Gantu, but I need to speak to Chief Zettar a moment." he apologised as the pair turned in his direction. The female rolled her eyes and her arms folded again as she faced her superior.

"What is it Commander?" She asked expectantly.

"Well," he cleared his throat as the piercing screeches of the prisoner receiving medical attention was heard through a small gap in the door. It reminded Gantu that Officer Orlax was still treating the prisoner in the other room. Still in agony after his encounter with the aggressive female Chief. "I want you to understand that the Captain is from the Galactic Armada, they deal with their prisoners differently to what we do here. I was hoping you'd show a bit less aggression towards your convict today."

"I can't say I didn't try sir," she responded plainly as she gazed over through the glass before she looked over at the uneasy Rookie at the other end of the room. "But he wasn't going to crack with that Rookie in the room. Besides, he tried my patience. And you can't say he did not deserve it."

"But you have already put two convicts in hospital this month Zettar," he reminded her. Gantu suddenly shook his head in surprise. He wasn't expecting to hear that. She really **was** an aggressive sort of Officer. He knew at this point that he would have to keep a strict eye on her while handling his prisoners. The Galactic Council would not take it well if he returned his prisoners to Turo half beaten and broken.

"Try three," a voice broke out at the other end of the room. Suddenly, without warning, Officer Orlax reappeared and paced over to the Commander with a distasteful expression on his face. "I'm going to need your authorisation sir, for a medical crew to pick up Mr. Oxus here."

The Commander shook his head and a rather large sigh escaped his lips "what's his injuries like?"

"Two broken ribs, a broken arm, several split and strained muscles and a very sore back. As well as all the cuts and bruises she gave him," the medical Officer explained as the Commander took his hologram and signed it in order to give him the consent to get a medical team in.

"Oh Zettar," the Commander shook his head "what are we going to do with your rough ways?" He turned away and looked over at the medical Officer and gave him back the hologram he had just signed. "Can you manage everything here Officer Orlax?"

The younger Officer stood to attention and placed his hologram chart between his arm and his side as he placed his other arm in the air in order to give his superior a salute. "Yes sir, Commander Turak. I have sent for the medical team as we speak, they should be arriving within a few minutes."

"Excellent," the Commander turned back to Gantu and the Chief and gestured his arm towards the door. "Well Captain Gantu, Chief Zettar, I believe it is time for our briefing. If you both would accompany me to my office, I will be much obliged."

Gantu nodded and proceeded to follow the Commander and the female Chief out of the door. He was still in shock about what had just happened. Not only was his new partner revealed to be a female, but now he was being partnered up with someone who was just as assertive, if not more, as he was. Of course he had high hopes for his new partner and thought her the curious and trustworthy kind. But he wasn't expecting her to be this forceful on her prisoners. Gantu would keep a close eye on her. And not just because of their duty to the Galactic Alliance. He would also keep a close eye on her and try to talk to one of his own again. It was about time he got out of his comfort zone and made an effort to try and make the most of his time around another Shaelek. There was so many questions about his home world which were still left unanswered. Hopefully this Zellah Zettar would be a nice sort of person and would eventually become a friend if nothing else. But only time would tell. Only time...

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><p>Authors note: Whoa, long chapter! Hope you all enjoyed Chief Zellah Zettar's introduction. I bet you weren't expecting all that, eh? This is now the starting point of the rest of the events in the story. I will be focussing more and more on the crime aspects on this story as well as the chemistry between our two Shaeleks. And of course, Reuben's friendship with Gantu will be portrayed as it normally is. I hope you all enjoyed this. Please feel free to tell me what you think of it so far in a review. Thank you for reading and I will update soon.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6: A plan in action

Chapter 6: A plan in action

Authors note: I'd like to thank the person (you know who you are) who favourited this story! Two watchers and a favourite! I really appreciate feedback of any sort on my work so thank you all so much! Anyway, here is chapter 6. Enjoy!

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><p>"Please sit down Captain."<p>

Gantu did as he was gestured. He, with Reuben on his shoulder, sat down in the Shaelekean designed chair in the middle of the Commander's office. It was the exact same chair he had sat down in earlier, just as comfortable as it was before. The Commander and the Chief entered the room behind Gantu. Turak walked calmly around his desk to sit on the opposite side to where Gantu was sitting. The Chief however remained standing. Chief Zellah Zettar smoothly walked into the room and stood alongside the sitting Gantu, her waist his head height. She professionally remained firm with her posture and kept both hands behind her back as she awaited the Commander to begin. Gantu couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy knowing that he was comfortably sat down while she was standing right next to him.

"Won't you sit down Chief Zettar?" Gantu questioned up at the female Shaelek. She merely peered down at him and shook her head before the Commander responded on her behalf.

"Oh, I wouldn't bother asking her to sit down Captain Gantu." He told her as he pulled his chair closed to his desk. "She's a very hard person to persuade. She'd much rather stand, than sit in one of our nicely furnished chairs."

Gantu nodded and sat, still rather uncomfortably, as he turned to the Commander. Reuben kept his eyes locked closely onto the female, examining her closely. She looked like Gantu (only in female form) in that stance. She looked like she was trying to look as proud and professional as possible, just like Gantu did in front of the Galactic Council and anyone else he was trying to impress. And not only did she remind him of Gantu with the way she was standing, but also by her facial expression. She looked miserable. Almost as miserable as Gantu always looked. He had seen that look too much today. It seemed that Shaeleks were one moody species. But he could hardly blame them, he too would be miserable if he was one of them.

"So, where to begin..." the Commander stated as he began searching around his desk for something. Chief Zettar leaned over and picked up whatever he was searching for at the opposite end of the desk before proceeding to give it to the grateful Commander "ah, thank you Zellah."

"You're most welcome sir," she smiled slightly as she stood tall once again. He placed whatever she had given him on the desk and made sure the area was clear before switching the weird device on. Gantu recognized it instantly. It was an advanced Shaelekean projecting hologram. He hadn't used one in years, but he knew what they were. They were very similar to the holograms they used on Turo, just more advanced. The Commander flipped it on hastily and the light emitting from it reflected off of the ceiling to form a very large bluish image. It was a weapon. Something resembling a rather large plasma blaster.

"I am sure the Grand Councilwoman has made you aware of the types of contraband these criminal gangs are dealing in, Captain Gantu?" The Commander questioned, his tone already expecting a yes as a response. Gantu's eyes widened ever so slightly and found them gazing up at the female police Chief as she crossed her arms and gave him the exact look as her superior Officer. Gantu's face frowned nervously and he placed a finger underneath the V neck of his black and red shirt in order to loosen it.

"Umm," he began, gazing over at Reuben who shrugged in response. "Well, she did tell me they were dealing illegal weapons. But, she wasn't very clear on what kind..."

The Commander let out what sounded like a grunt. He placed his hands on the desk and tilted his head at the uneasy Captain of the Galactic Alliance. "Tell me Captain, how much do you know about these gangs? Do you know any of its members? Any planets they have bases on? Any names, dates, contacts, anything like that?"

Gantu looked down at his lap and sighed "no sir. I was hoping you would share some light on the subject. The Galactic Council has kept this all too quiet from me."

"I see," he placed a large hand to his chin and shook his head. "Typical Galactic Alliance. When it comes to matters concerning Interplanetary crises, they just don't wanna tell a soul. We don't have that policy on Shaelekar. We believe our people have the right to know of any criminal activity." He then gestured to the Chief and tapped his desk gently "very well. If you need a detailed briefing on this matter Captain, I will hand you over to Chief Zettar here. She has been working on this entire fiasco since the very beginning. And she has a much more in-depth understanding of it than compared to what I have." He placed his hand out and his fingers bent back and forth, signalling the younger female to step forward. "Chief Zettar, if you may?"

"Very well sir," she stepped forward behind Commander Turak's desk. She placed her hand on the table and leant on it slightly as her other hand pointed towards the hologram image of the weapon. "This is an example of the various weapons we have confiscated from each of our known suspects. This is a professionally homemade plasma cannon made with illegal weapons grade 'A' plasma. It has a soft ball firing system with an EH111 reading. The clip size is certainly not the classification we allow. It has a 1030 inch clip, almost twice over the legal limit. And the plasma itself is not stable since it is radioactive."

Reuben's brow suddenly shifted in utter confusion. He knew next to nothing about the classifications of blasters. To him, they were just a weapon to fire and stun, or occasionally kill, the bad guys. He certainly was no expert on advanced weaponry. Surprising for an illegal genetic experiment with an advanced intellect. Sadly though, weaponry was never his strong suit. It was usually Gantu's forte. Reuben did not have a clue as to what she was talking about at his point. But while he was confused, Gantu nodded and added his own response which only confused Reuben even more.

"Does it have any other technical features, such as the safety or the 8.1 back-up firing converter?" He questioned her closely. She simply shook her head at him before turning her head to the desk and pointed to the trigger of the gun on the hologram.

"No, it is a completely homemade constructed weapon, its designer had no intention to make it safe or user friendly. The 9.12 radiation reading we had carried out made us aware that it is certainly not a stable weapon."

Gantu and the Commander both looked pretty confident that they knew what she was on about. But Reuben, being a slow person at these kind of things, was now completely mind blank about it. What the Blitznak were they on about? _'What's with all the numbers and readings?'_ He thought to himself _'It's a plasma gun, not a mathematical instrument.'_

"Ahem," Reuben coughed in order to gain the attentions of the Shaeleks present before him. Each of them turned their heads, all at once, in his general direction on Gantu's shoulder. "I don't wish to sound rude here..." he paused a moment "but could you speak in plain and simple English please?"

She placed a hand on her hip and inspected the tiny experiment. The Chief obviously wasn't impressed to have to simplify what she had just said to the unaware Galley Officer. "Fine," she spoke, impatience very evident in her tone "basically, these weapons we are finding are being manufactured by professionals who know exactly what they're doing. Their intentions are to make weapons that kill instantly with just one blast. They are using radioactive plasma which is banned throughout the Galactic Empire for being too dangerous." Reuben finally nodded. She then proceeded to poke him gently in the stomach and looked him right in the eye. "It would incinerate you, or even someone double your size, instantly!"

Reuben slyly shoved her finger away and smirked "they would have a hard time incinerating me, I'm indestructible."

Gantu shook his head and placed a finger up to his mouth to signal to Reuben to shut up. He did not need yet ANOTHER fiasco of embarrassment from his sandwich making companion. Especially not now. Zellah's brow raised and a smirk appeared on her face in some sort of amusement, she obviously didn't believe a word of what Reuben had just said. But unlike the Commander, she had not yet been told of what species Reuben actually was. She was still unaware of Reuben being an illegal genetic experiment of a mad scientist who was known pretty much throughout the entire galaxy after the 626 mess years ago.

"Anyway," she turned back to the hologram and spoke to the Captain once again. Gantu listened, with a curious and well alert eye. "These weapons have been found on over 10 different planets, each being exported to a secret location by a different array of species. We first got the drop on some of our own species being involved in this crime wave several weeks ago. Since then, I have made several arrests and interrogated each convict till they have cracked and told me all that I need to know. We have no information as to who is running this operation, but today we finally got the name of the planet where those weapons were headed. The interrogation you just witnessed of Mr. Oxus, has just proved a crucial part of our next few missions. With the information I have obtained from him and the other prisoners, we can track down the leader of the gang and shut him down entirely."

Gantu now finally understood everything. This criminal gang were slowly, but surely, becoming an Intergalactic threat, as the Grand Councilwoman herself had told him. But were they just dealing in arms? Or was that only a building block to a more complex stage in their plan? He knew that no one knew much about this gang's activities. They were surely keeping a low profile. A good tactic to use in organized crime. Though, it wouldn't be very organized if the whole Galactic Empire knew about it, would it? And it seemed that the Chief of security here was the best one to help him catch them. No wonder the Grand Councilwoman had assigned her to him. But why, oh why, did she have to be a female of his own species? Gantu still was not sure of his own personal security regarding her. She was a very attractive female to be sure, but he would try to not let that get the better of him. But she was still very ill-tempered. And her aggressive nature could be a problem if any of their prisoners were like the one she had just sent into hospital with critical injuries. However, Gantu himself could not argue with what she did. Oxus did deserve everything he got. And Gantu had been in similar situations himself with some prisoners he had escorted to Turo in the past. He almost vaporized experiment 626 with his blaster when he had bitten his finger that one time. But every time the Captain let his anger issues get the better of him with his prisoners, a crew member was always on standby to put him back in his place and remind him of his position in the Galactic Empire. He could surely do the same with Miss Zettar right?

"Do you understand it now Captain Gantu?" The Commander questioned directly at the now eager Captain.

"Yes sir," Gantu began nodding rapidly. His eyes locked onto the Chief for several moments, she smiled with a slight relief and he returned her smile with a rather dumbfounded one. Her brow then raised entertainingly and looked away from that weirdly looking Captain. Gantu then realized what he had been doing and immediately felt embarrassed. _'Keep it together Gantu. She's just a female. Remember your job! Your job is your life!' _He mentally hollered to himself. His eyes then turned back onto the Commander and he cleared his throat again. "But I have a question," he raised his hand rather weakly.

"Yes?"

"Well," he coughed making hand gestures as he spoke "you have not mentioned what their next plan is all about. I mean, what could they possibly need all of those weapons for?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Chief Zettar intervened, looking at him questioningly as she placed a firm hand on the Commander's desk and leant against the side of it. "They're amassing an army to engage war on countless planets and overthrow their governments. And when they gain enough power and their numbers have trebled, they will advance to the Galactic Armada and take down the Federation."

Gantu's finger drooped down. His question was answered, but not to his expectations. This was serious. DEADLY SERIOUS. And the Grand Councilwoman was entrusting him and this female Shaelek Chief to take down these criminals to prevent this from happening. Sure, he had taken down fleets of criminal space cruisers before. And sure he had once led a rebel alliance on a planet to stop a civil war. But this was an Intergalactic threat which was about to become a reality. If he were to fail, a lot of lives would potentially be ruined or even lost. But he had already vowed not to slip up again. And of course the Grand Councilwoman was still entrusting him to succeed with this mission right? And this gang was in its early stages by the sounds of it. All he needed to do was shut down the operation by investigating into the gang's known members and find out who was in charge. And once he/she was taken out, everything would be settled once again.

"This is why the Grand Councilwoman has entrusted you and Chief Zettar to go on the missions to prevent this," the Commander spoke, (unknowingly) copying what Gantu had just thought. "With the combined power of a highly ranked and respectable Officer from Shaelekar and the Captain and his skilled crew from the Galactic Federation, the criminal gangs will be rounded up and sent to Turo for a proper trial. Your main target will be those weapons. We have seen what they can do to a person our large size. Blitznak knows what they could do to countless other alien species who are considerably shorter than us."

"And what exactly will be our first mission?" Reuben finally questioned. The Commander proceeded to change the hologram image to a picture of a strange yellow and green planet with two orbiting moons. It looked considerably different to Shaelekar. But Reuben recognized it from somewhere. He and Gantu must have visited there on one of their former missions. That was the only logical explanation as to how he recognized it.

"THIS will be your first mission," the Commander explained, his hand hovering underneath the hologram image of the planet. "Mr. Oxus gave us the name of the planet and its location as to where the criminals were going to meet up with the contraband. The planet Meltrok. It's a very dusty and polluted planet, full of industry. A good place for criminal scum to hide. Your mission is to go there and enquire about any suspicious activity and arrest anyone who you recognize to be a suspected member of this criminal gang. Once you have made your enquiries and made some arrests, you are to take your convicts back to Turo to meet with the Grand Councilwoman. From that point on, she will inform me of your progress as you go on your next mission after that."

Gantu's eyes suddenly lost their determined glow. He wasn't particularly thrilled to be hearing about his first mission. He had been to Meltrok before. Not a nice planet at all. Apart from the pollution and the very large and overpopulated crowds, its people were not very nice to deal with. Meltrok was one of the many, many planets in the galaxy which had a mixed species as its general population. Many Interplanetary species lived there for the work. But the planet was rather poor and disgusting. The lowest of the low lived there. In some ways, Gantu pitied the poor families who struggled to make ends meet. They usually raised children who usually took a wrong turn. Not because they had bad parents, but because the society was lacking and the laws were pretty much non-existent. This was the reason why the planet had such a huge crime rate. Few laws and even fewer law enforcers. But of course, out of any of the other planets in that quadrant, Meltrok would be the most likely place for the gangs dirty dealings to take place. And his security crew could find some of the known gang members and arrest them, then perhaps they could get more information as to who was really behind it.

"Of course the main city of Meltrok is a big place," the Chief added "and an array of different languages are spoken there. We may need someone who has a vast knowledge in Interplanetary linguistics."

Gantu gazed over in the direction of Rueben, eye arching, with a small determined smile appearing on his features. He knew just the guy for that job. Reuben had been built with a vast knowledge of alien languages. One of the many useful things Jumba Jookiba had programmed into his experiment 625. He knew over 52 different languages spoken commonly among various quadrants around the galaxy. And fortunately, one of those 52 languages happened to be Meltrokian. It was not a hugely spoken language, but the local folk who dwelled on that planet still spoke it. This would come in handy if any questions would have to be asked to any people who knew about any suspicious activity going on there.

"Indeed," the Commander agreed as he began typing something into his advanced computer on the other side of his desk. "I will have an interpreter droid accompany you to the planet."

Gantu saw this as an opportunity to speak up. He cleared his throat and raised his hand slightly as he spoke to the preoccupied Commander with a slightly hesitant tone. "Excuse me sir, but that won't be necessary."

The Commander stopped what he was doing and tilted his confused head at the Captain. Gantu merely shifted his gaze at Reuben and tapped his finger towards his shoulder as Reuben shifted his feet awkwardly. "Reuben here has advanced Interplanetary linguistics as one of his original programming's, and one of the many languages he can speak fluently would be that of the Meltrokian language."

The Commander raised his head confidently and turned off his computer as a response. However, Chief Zettar, who was unaware of Reuben's true origin, made a very odd expression as she stepped forward. Commander Turak noticed his younger Officer's off gaze and decided to enlighten her on the subject.

"Chief Zettar, Officer Reuben here is an illegal genetic experiment," he pointed over to Gantu's shoulder and Zellah's eyes followed still rather dazed in confusion. "I believe you heard of the arrest of Dr. Jumba Jookiba and the escape of experiment 626?" She simply nodded in response "well, this is his _'cousin'_, experiment 625, now known to be called Reuben. Captain Gantu has claimed that he has all of the powers of 626 and is a very trusty Officer."

"I see," was her only response to this. She examined the little yellow experiment curiously, then her eyes locked onto Gantu once again. Both Gantu and Reuben noticed her excessive stare on them and neither of them knew what to say or do. She looked like she was judging them. But was that a good thing or a bad thing? By the look on her face, Gantu feared that she could see right through him. Did she think of him as a simpleton with a weird disposition and partner/Galley Officer? She was obviously the intelligent and _'fast to judge'_ sort. Especially judging by her reputation. The rest of the Officers he had encountered today (with the exception of the ones in the canteen, after the fiasco with Reuben) had treated him with nothing but respect and adoration. But this female was rather sketchy around him. He couldn't make it out. What was she really thinking? He had guessed that she was not eager to pack up her things and be whisked away from her home world for several months, just to catch the bad guys. She had probably been forced into it by that pushy Commander Turak for all he knew. But no matter what the case, Gantu would try and be pleasant to her. He did not want to make enemies over a feeling he had. Especially one involving the opposite sex.

The Commander broke her stern eyes away from the pair of Officers from the Galactic Federation when he spoke once again, this time, he clasped his hands together confidently. "Well Captain Gantu, Chief Zettar, Officer Reuben," his voice still made a rather distasteful sound as he spoke Reuben's name. "I now believe you are aware of your mission and I now ask you to take your leave in order to prepare your ship for travel tomorrow."

Gantu's head shot up faster than a laser blast "tomorrow?" He jolted in surprise "I thought we were leaving today..."

The Commander gave a rather hearty laugh and stood to pat the younger Captain on the shoulder, much to Gantu's annoyance. "Oh my dear boy, no, no!" He continued to chuckle "you will stay here one night in order to give Chief Zettar time to return home and pack. And of course your ship will need preparing."

Gantu merely nodded and tried his best to hide his grimace under a fake professional smile. He was not planning on this. But then again, all of his expectations had gone out into the vacuum of space as soon as he had set foot on the space port. He was expecting a grim arrival and instead got treated like royalty for a change. The Commander was not as he had pictured. His shenanigans with Reuben would probably never be lived down. And most shockingly of all, the partner, who the Grand Councilwoman had taken upon herself to employ on his behalf, had not turned out to be who he had thought at all. He was expecting a rough and tough male Shaelek who would challenge his authority. But instead he got a female Shaelek, who was just as tough as any other male of their species.

"Very well then sir," Gantu spoke finally deciding to stand up. He briefly turned and bowed his head in the direction of Chief Zettar before he proceeded to walk over to the Commander and shake his hand once more.

"You will take your leave and make preparations, and we will see you at the space port tomorrow morning." Turak instructed releasing his grip on the Captain's hand. "Good day to you Captain Gantu."

Gantu turned to leave the office and saluted to the Commander "Good day to you, Commander Turak," his eyes briefly glanced over in the direction of Zellah and he bowed his head to her politely "Chief Zettar."

"Captain," she returned his polite gesture and crossed her arms as her eyes followed him out of the room. Unlike Gantu, the Chief had decided to stay a little longer in order to speak alone with her superior Officer. Once Gantu and Reuben had exited the office, she took it upon herself to make conversation with him.

Gantu watched as the door automatically closed, rather gently, after he had exited the Commander's office. He did not move for several moments. Instead he kept his head low and remained silent. Rueben however, was actually smirking. He struggled to hold back something which he was containing inside his mouth. He covered it with both of his tiny paw-like hands and continued to struggle to contain his random spluttering as his friend remained awkwardly silent. But sadly, Reuben was no good at concealing what he felt (as he had displayed frequently throughout the course of the day) and soon found himself letting it all go. Gantu's eyes remained low until his ears came upon a very unexpected sound. And what he heard was... laughter?!

"Phahahahahahahaha!" Reuben keeled over in hysterics much to the surprise of his larger Shaelekean friend. Gantu's head turned upon his shoulder and his eyes widened at the sight of Reuben grabbing his chest with one hand and balancing his body on his tusk with the other. "Wooooo, boy! It can't get much better than that!" Reuben continued to talk throughout his short breaths due to fits of laughter.

"And may I ask what you find so funny?" Gantu's eyebrow arched up and a small frown began to show itself on his face. Reuben took several more moments to compose himself enough to respond to his best friend.

"You, my blubber-butt buddy!" Reuben pointed a single tiny finger towards Gantu's cheek, poking him rather sharply as he continued to keel over in hilarity. "Your face when you saw her! Oh my Polluxar! Hahahahaha!"

Gantu couldn't help but feel rather embarrassed. He already had an idea what Reuben was on about. But just because his newly assigned partner was actually a female in the same species as his own, it did not mean that he liked her. Like that! Reuben was just being immature. He always was in this kind of situation. He knew he would hear no end of this from now on. That was one of the many disadvantages of having a female partner. Reuben, along with other people no doubt, would instantly connect him and her as a couple! JUST BECAUSE, they were members of the same species. Oh the humility. Gantu wasn't particularly looking forward to this.

"It was merely shock and surprise," Gantu proclaimed as boldly as he could "I was not expecting Chief Zettar to be a female Shaelek! I was just as surprised as you were!"

"Yeah," Reuben giggled, wiping a stray tear from his eye as he began to calm down "but I'm not the one who likes her."

Gantu grumbled. Aaaaaaaaand, so it began. "I don't like her!" He shouted, trying to put the little experiment off of the idea before he carried it too far. "Well, not like that anyway. She's a respectable Officer. A little aggressive and temperamental perhaps, but she'll be a good addition to our crew."

"Yeah, you're right there," Reuben smirked "besides, you wouldn't stand a chance with her anyway. She could kick your buttookie all the way across to the other side of the Whirlpool Galaxy if she wanted to. I mean, did you see the way she kicked that guys ass in there?! If that is how she takes out guys twice your size in blubber, imagine what she'd do to you!" He started to snigger immaturely again, much to the annoyance of his companion.

"Hey, will you knock it off?!" Gantu scowled, poking him with his large finger rudely. "I don't like her ok? Just because she's a member of the opposite sex does not mean that I-"

"Gantu? Is that really you?"

The sudden third voice that broke into the conversation immediately stopped Gantu from finishing his sentence. Both he and Reuben turned their surprised heads in the direction of where the voice had come from and the rest of their bodies soon followed. Reuben's eyes widened in a slight surprise, it was a guy he had never seen before in his life. A male Shaelek, around the same height as Gantu, with the same standard uniform as the other Officers in the police force. His tusks were remarkably larger than your average Shaelek and his blue eyes looked rather wide along with his smile. Reuben didn't know this guy, but Gantu certainly did. Gantu was rather taken aback for several moments, his eyes were widened in confusion before they suddenly shifted into a realizing stare.

"R-Rozcor?" Gantu stammered, taking a gulp as he made out the name. The male Shaelek grinned and went over to Gantu and pulled him into a tight, and rather rough, embrace.

"Gantu!" He repeated again, this time more cheerfully "long time no see buddy!"

"W-well yes," Gantu shook his head, his face now rather at ease "over 10 years to be exact."

"Wow," Rozcor pulled away suddenly "THAT long?" Gantu merely nodded in response to this. The male Shaelek smirked and punched him playfully on the shoulder as he continued to speak. "We sure have some catching up to do! I heard of your return to Shaelekar whilst on duty in the cargo bay this afternoon, and I figured I'd say _'hi'_ to my old partner."

"Partner?" Reuben interjected his head switching between the two aliens at a dramatic speed. The male Shaelek grinned and nodded down at the tiny Officer.

"Yeah," he the clasped Gantu's shoulder coarsely and tapped it several times "we started out as Rookies in the force. Were partnered up together too. Gantu and I were the best of friends." He then turned his head back to Gantu and his face frowned slightly "still would be if it weren't for a certain someone not bothering to call me after he got transferred to the Galactic Alliance."

Gantu shrugged his shoulders and an uneasy smile appeared on his face "sorry."

"Nah, don't sweat it," he nudged him casually and grinned again "heard you made it all the way up to the top! Became Captain! Good on ya Ganty!"

Gantu was certainly surprised to see a former friend of his still working for the police force on his home planet. He had gone all day without seeing a single person he once knew during his short time here years ago. Yet here he was, in the presence of his ex-partner who still, unbelievably, recognized him after all of this time. It was a nice surprise. One of the only nice surprises he had seen all day. Sure, Chief Zettar hadn't disappointed him, but it wasn't a pleasant surprise to see a female take down a prisoner that aggressively and remain rather cold towards everyone else. And the way she addressed him at times was less than to be desired.

"So," Gantu smiled at the other Shaelek, changing the subject slightly "how have you been?"

"Oh, same old, same old," Rozcor tilted his head from side to side and folded his arms on his chest "been moving, slowly but surely, up the ranks. I'm a Major now! Got promoted last summer."

Gantu was surprised. His former best friend was a rank lower than his new partner. _'Oh, if only Chief Zettar could swap ranks with Rozcor'_ Gantu thought to himself _'then I would be much more comfortable with this whole situation._' But sadly he knew that he was stuck with the female Shaelek whether he liked it or not. It was not for him to decide, it was the Galactic Council's.

"Major Rozcor," Gantu said to himself, chuckling in a slight amusement "I like it."

"Fitting ain't it?" He remarked "but being a Major in the police force can be boring at times. So much paper work to fill out and fresh meat to train." By the term _"fresh meat"_ Gantu had assumed he meant the young Corporal Rookies. Like that Corporal Verin who was _'assisting'_ in that interrogation he had just witnessed. Gantu recalled a time where he was referred to as _'fresh meat' _by some of the older, more experienced Officers. Not-so-fun times. "But it can be fun at the same time!" The Officer continued, his quirky grin changing to a rather proud one as he stood tall and continued to speak "and of course I have a family of 4 now."

Gantu was astounded. His rambunctious friend had taken a path he had never taken. Stayed with his home planet's police force, achieved a high ranked status, and more importantly, settled down and had a family. It made him realize that perhaps he could have made it far if he had stayed at home instead of joining the Galactic Alliance. That small hint of regret was coming back again.

"Who's the lucky girl?" Gantu crossed his arms as he pried, rather eagerly, into his friend's personal life. Rozcor delve into his pocket and picked out a picture hologram he had been carrying around with him. He flipped it on and passed it over to Gantu. Gantu raised it up to his face and placed it into view so that Reuben could also see it. On the hologram was a youngish female, around his age, with 4 children and Rozcor himself surrounding her. One of the children was a baby carried in her arms and the others were old enough that they were standing. Reuben smirked slightly at the picture. One of the children looked just like Gantu did when that Babyfier experiment turned him into a baby back in their experiment hunting days.

"Sheli is her name," Rozcor explained as Gantu passed the hologram picture back to him. "I met her 7 years ago after we did an arrest around her neighbourhood. She was a witness to the crime and we had to interrogate her as a witness. Guess you could say, we hit it off and ended up together."

"I'm very happy for you Rozcor," Gantu smiled encouragingly "you sound like you've had a blast over these past 10 years."

"Yeah," he nodded "but what about you? I've heard you've had some rather dodgy experiences while you've been away from home."

Reuben did a half cough, half snort in response to this. Dodgy was definitely an understatement. "Are you kidding?" He remarked almost bursting into hysterics again "this guy has had more-than-weird experiences over the past couple of years."

The male Shaelek turned his head in amusement at the small alien experiment as he leant up against the wall rather casually. "Oh yeah?" He kept his eyes locked onto Gantu's shoulder and crossed his arms slyly. "What's my buddy been doing?"

"Well," Reuben began "he was Captain of the Galactic Alliance before I met him, then he was retired by the Grand Councilwoman after he failed to capture my cousin, Stitch. Then he was forced to work for a pissed off gerbil who wanted to take over the galaxy. And during this time, he met me and we were left stranded on the planet Earth for 3 whole years. Then we finally got put back into the Galactic Alliance and had a perfect record up until recently."

Gantu let out a groan. He did not need Reuben to brag about his recent or past failures to anyone, let alone to his rather successful friend. Rozcor nodded in response. "Yeah," he remarked, a finger pointing up in the air "I heard about the escape of Zellious Glornack, bad luck there. We've been after him for ages. He's had some connections to the criminal gangs business that Chief Zettar is working on. But I don't know much about that, I work in the other criminal divisions."

"Wait," Gantu's brow arched up "you know about Chief Zettar?"

"Pfffft," Rozcor blurted out a rather weird laugh "who doesn't know of her? Only one of the best Officers in the entire Shaelekean police force!"

Reuben leant against Gantu's tusk casually and pointed his thumb towards him "Gantu-Shmantu here has just been partnered up with her."

"Ooooh," Rozcor grimaced slightly, much to the added concern of Gantu himself. "Hard luck there."

What did he mean by that? Should he be worried about this? Gantu's eyes widened in a slight concern as he watched Rozcor's expressions change rather dramatically from calm and casual to rather concerned and sympathetic. "Why?" Gantu questioned, a bit too eagerly "what's wrong with her?"

"Oh," Rozcor snapped, now standing completely upright "nothing at all!" He assured him "she's just a bit... oh how do I put it... uneasy to be around. Let's just say, she takes her job WAY too seriously. But heck, I hear that is something you both share in common, eh?"

Gantu wanted to object to this. He'd much rather not have anything in common with that female at all. She seemed rather too antagonistic for his tastes. He had already told himself in the past, if he were ever to look for a female mate, he would go for the gentle kind. That was why he dated Cynta during his college years. Before she went down the '_letting herself go'_ route, she was always kind and sweet natured. Everything that this Zellah Zettar was not. And from what he was hearing from each person he had encountered, Zellah Zettar was exactly the opposite of your typical female Shaelek. She was unique, but in the more manlier ways. It wasn't normal for a female to try and take on the authority of a male in their society. And this was something Gantu would have to get used to.

"Exactly my point!" Reuben spoke up before Gantu could even open his mouth. Reuben then turned to Rozcor and spoke the words Gantu did not wish him to repeat. "Gantu here has a_ 'thing'_ for Miss Zellah Zettar." Gantu went to interject once again, but was beaten to it, this time by Rozcor.

"Oooooh, wrong move there dude!" Rozcor squinted slightly "sure, she's a real nice figure to look at, but she's **way** out of your league!"

"But I don't-" Gantu tried to speak once again, only to be interrupted by Reuben again.

"Yeah, she just put a guy in hospital with a broken arm."

A sudden snort came out of the Major's mouth. "A broken arm? Are you kidding me?!" He then laughed as his eyes shifted from Reuben to Gantu rather rapidly. "You both know she once put a guy in a coma right?" He then noticed the pair look rather alarmed and his smile slowly, and awkwardly, began to fade away. "Oh," He remarked, his tone becoming quieter "I guess you didn't hear about that."

The Captain and the Galley Officer suddenly froze at the very thought of this. They knew that she was rather violent and extreme with that guy who had just been interrogated, but she had crossed a line there. Was she **that** messed up? Putting a guy into a coma?! Reuben wondered how she was still allowed to interrogate people, let alone still having a job. This was completely crazy. But hey, this was how the law system worked on this planet. He was just too used to the rules that the Galactic Federation enforced.

The atmosphere went rather tense and silent. The corridor was pretty much lifeless, no one else but Gantu, Reuben and Rozcor were around. They were still pretty close to the Commander's office, and no one was around to hear what they were saying. Gantu and Reuben exchanged concerned glances and occasionally gazed over at the pensive Major. None of them spoke. Each awaited for the other to say something. But before anyone could speak again. The door of Commander Turak's office automatically opened up. Each of the Officers' attentions turned in the direction of the door. And when a figure stepped out. It only made the situation rather worse. It was Chief Zellah Zettar herself. The exact person who they were just talking about. She exited the office, unaware of the two Shaeleks and the genetic mutation standing at the other end of the corridor. She merely exited the room with a rather resentful stare as she gazed down at some of the documents she was carrying in her hands. As the door closed on her she briefly gazed up and her deep purple eyes scoured her surroundings. And when her attention finally fell upon the three Officers who were all staring directly at her, she merely stepped past them and acknowledged one of them briefly.

"Chief Zettar!" Major Rozcor stood to attention as she paced past him proudly. She merely nodded and continued walking, not even stopping to make conversation.

"Major Rozcor," she remarked as she headed down the corridor. All eyes followed her and watched her leave the premises. Not once did she acknowledge Gantu or Reuben in any way, shape or form. In some ways it made him feel rather rejected. She was somehow resentful to him. And if she was going to ignore him like this now, imagine what she would be like to work with. Gantu was sensing that this partnership was not going to work out. He had a feeling at the back of his mind that sooner or later, he would be begging the Grand Councilwoman to have the Shaelekar police force to take her back. And that was something he did not wish to do unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Yeah, she's one tough cookie is Zellah," Rozcor remarked finally easing the tension by speaking moments after her quick exit. "You're gonna need a whole lotta luck to work with her, Gantu."

Gantu felt regret and unwillingness wash over him. What in the Creblock system had the Grand Councilwoman signed him up for? He was not looking forward to their first mission. He would be setting course for the planet Meltrok tomorrow with Chief Zettar joining his crew. And his impression of his new partner was less than to be desired. She was everything he wanted, yet at the same time, everything he did not want. He was expecting a male Shaelek to challenge his authority. But instead he had a female. And the truth was, she looked sweet and innocent, but her fiery temper and her actions which she had displayed, made her look more menacing than most of the other Officers in the police force. Gantu would have to play it tough if he were to stand any chance of cooperation with this woman. He would not take no for an answer! He would remain firm and would forget everything about her being a member of the opposite sex. She would be his equal in species and lower regarding rank. Gantu was not prepared to risk his operation over one Officer who had a very rough reputation. He would have to keep her in check if this mission were to be a success. Finally he had met someone more firm and aggressive than himself. And deep down, it scared him. It scared him A LOT.

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><p>Authors note: Oh Blitznak Gantu, what have you been signed up with? Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I will be posting the next one very soon! Oh, and keep an eye out on my DeviantArt page (the link is on my profile), I will be very soon posting fan art for this story. Thank you guys for reading, and please feel free to review it! Feedback is always appreciated.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7: Hello adventure

Chapter 7: "Goodbye Shaelekar. Hello adventure."

Authors note: Well guys, I am so sorry for not updating a while. I've been very busy lately and had barely any time to write. But I'm back now! Yay! Now as the title may suggest, this will be the last chapter on Gantu's home planet (for a while at least, we will be returning there in the future). The next chapter will mark a turning point in this story and a lot of action will follow! Anyway, enough rambling, enjoy this chapter!

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><p>It had all gone so quickly. Gantu, Reuben and Rozcor had spent the rest of the day catching up on old times one moment, and then, before they knew it, it was suddenly the next morning. Today was the day that marked misery for Gantu and his once-successful career as a highly respected Captain of the Galactic Alliance. He was not looking forward to his partnership with Chief Zellah Zettar of Shaelekar's finest police force. It was pretty clear to him that the Grand Councilwoman was sending her with him just to make sure he wouldn't slip up again. But what difference could one extra person make in an Interplanetary crisis? That was a question he really should have asked her during their meeting on Turo several days ago.<p>

Gantu couldn't get over his conversation with his old friend Rozcor, the night before the launch. He had told him things about Zellah which put him off of her entirely. Judging by what he had said, she was a horrible person. Too violent and rash with her actions and certainly not the best person to be in a partnership with. And the fact that she had _'apparently'_ put one of her prisoners into a month-long coma did not make him keen on the idea of having her in his crew either. Don't get him wrong, he would still try to be civil with her, for the sake of the mission if nothing else. He would show a professional courtesy and treat her as he would any other member of his crew. But outside of work, he would want nothing to do with her. Obviously in her case, looks were VERY deceiving. She may have been one of the more attractive members of their species in appearance, but on a personality level, she was as cold as the depths of space.

_"Yeah, Chief Zellah is not the easiest person to work with. I should know, I was assigned a mission with her once," _Rozcor had told him during their late discussion after he had come off duty._ "Back when she was a Major, like me, she put over 20 Shaeleks in hospital after a fight broke out when she was making arrests. Two of those Shaeleks were females. Commander Turak was not very impressed with her approach and it almost cost her job. But she was somehow allowed to keep her gruff nature and continued to enforce it on her prisoners. Watch yourself with her Gantu. She's very unpredictable."_

_"Unpredictable."_ Great... that would mean he would have to keep a close eye on her while out on missions. And he still had the task of introducing her to his crew, and more importantly, his security staff. Being his Chief of security meant that she would be in charge of his other security crew. And this did not just mean that she would order them around. Oh, no. She would also be the one to make sure they were trained correctly with weaponry and made aware of the dangers of each mission. Would Gantu be prepared on letting such a reckless Officer be in charge of his crew? He wasn't too sure. What Rozcor had told him had seriously damaged his opinion of her. But he did try to encourage himself that the Grand Councilwoman knew what she was doing and saw something in this Chief that would prove him wrong. He certainly hoped this anyway.

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><p>"Rough night's sleep buddy?"<p>

Gantu marched through the doors of the police headquarters tired and groggy from his previous night's catch up with his old friend Major Rozcor. He hadn't been up long. Just long enough to get ready, eat something quickly and go and tend to his ship before their launch. Reuben was also tired, but unlike Gantu, he had fallen asleep on his friend's shoulder half way through the night. Gantu of course did not object, he could hardly blame his little companion for being sleepy. But today he was in no mood to put up with his Galley Officer's shenanigans. If Reuben were to try and mess with him today, things could turn ugly very quickly. He had enough to deal with regarding his new _'rough and tough'_ partner, let alone his own friend.

"You could say that," he responded as his hand rubbed his eyes in order to keep them open "Rozcor would not stop talking to me last night. I've probably had like 3 hours sleep, at most."

Reuben, perched on Gantu's shoulder (as-per-usual), watched as Gantu's mouth unhinged rather unnaturally as he let out a rather loud yawn. He certainly was tired! Reuben's head shifted down and he gazed at the floor as his towering friend took large strides towards the shuttle bay. He had always observed how wide Gantu's legs spread apart with each step he took. From above it looked like those scenes out of a monster movie, where the hero/heroine would always look down while being carried by the monster. But in this case, there was no monster. Gantu was just a very tall alien, as all.

"Well, chin up buddy," Reuben patted his tusk encouragingly "today we set off on our adventures once more! And that Zellah Zettar Chief will be coming with us," he then smiled and rubbed his hands together eagerly "Oooh, I hope she likes sandwiches."

"Let's just focus on the mission, ok?" Gantu cut his cheery demeanour off at the mention of their new crew member. It was obvious to Reuben that he did not wish to speak of her. But Reuben, the sly little experiment he was, took advantage of this and played it by his own rules.

"Well yeah," Reuben agreed, his eyes then shifting mischievously in the direction of Gantu, "and I hope that is all you'll be focussing on. I don't wanna have to bail you out or save your buttookie if you make a move on her and she kicks your ass."

Gantu paused, his foot in mid air. He harshly stomped his foot to the ground and ignored the many Officers going to and from the space port as his head shot super quickly in the direction of Reuben. His eyes squinted and his mouth formed an evident frown. "DON'T! Don't do it," He warned him. "I am not in the mood."

"Ok, ok," Reuben groaned, backing away ever so slightly. "Jeez, I was just teasing you."

"I know," Gantu continued walking once again as he repeated what he had just stated "and I'm not in the mood."

"When are you ever?" Reuben questioned rhetorically, crossing his arms and shaking his head moodily. Gantu merely ignored him and turned his attentions back onto where he was going.

The doors to the space port automatically opened for the pair as they made their way towards it. And unlike the time of their arrival, the Officers on the port were too busy bustling about their own business to bother noticing Gantu's entrance. He didn't care of course. He hardly ever expected anyone to stop and notice him. No one else on Turo bothered, so why should he care about anyone else bothering to notice him? Their ship, the BRB 11,000, was on the main platform of the port, being prepared by countless members of his own crew as well as some of the port staff. Taking several steps onto the platform before stopping to survey the area, Gantu merely placed both hands on his hips and his head swerved from left to right as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"So," Gantu spoke, a hint of distaste in his tone "where the Blitznak is she?"

"I don't know," Reuben grasped his tusk tightly and hung over his friend's hugely built body as he too looked around for who they were on about. "Are you sure we're meeting her here?"

"Yes," Gantu snapped a little impatiently, crossing his arms tightly "the Commander made it clear to us to meet her here before we take off. This is seriously getting too old."

"You're telling me," Reuben stepped down and sat on Gantu's shoulder glumly "ever since we got here, we've been pushed and shoved and ordered about like a piece of that Urgul," he too crossed his arms and locked his eyes onto Gantu's "your species have certainly surprised me, Gantu."

"Yes," Gantu placed a hand to his chin and rubbed it gently. Reuben noticed his mouth form a rather displeased half smirk, half frown. "It seems that I've been away far too long. I forgot how persistent, aggressive and arrogant my own species are."

"Are you kidding?" Reuben spluttered amusingly "that's you in a nutshell there, buddy! You are just like many of the Officers here. I'm guessing it's a big trait in your species to be like that. And I wonder if the other females of your kind are like Chief Zettar." He then paused and a rather concerned grimace appeared on his features. "Come to think of it, if they are... I don't wanna be around when you finally decide to get a girlfriend."

Gantu couldn't help but smirk. He too had noticed Reuben's shock of seeing his friend's new partner for the first time. He couldn't tell who was more scared of her, that Rookie in the interrogation room or Reuben. Actually... come to think of it, the Rookie looked a slight bit more unnerved than his little Galley Officer. But Reuben had gotten used to Gantu's gruff behaviour over the years, so he was a lot more accustomed to it. He guessed that neither of them were aware that such a female would be capable of being that aggressive. Heck, Gantu himself was still mortified and shocked by it. Back during his college days he had known many of the females in his classes, due to his girlfriend being a part of the more popular groups, and none of them behaved in the ways that he had just witnessed this particular female act. And come to think of it, since his return to Shaelekar, he had seen two other females besides Chief Zellah Zettar. Both of whom were merely Corporals (surprise, surprise). And neither of them spoke or acted the way their superior Officer did. Both were shy and quiet and blended into the background more. That was one of the major reasons most females did not make it far in the Shaelekar police force. You had to be tough and assertive. And as it would have it, most of the female population in his species were not.

"I wouldn't get your hopes up too high there," Gantu smiled, much to his friend's surprise "the females in my species are not usually like what Chief Zettar is. Besides, I am not planning on returning to Shaelekar any time soon, so we can forget about relationships. Especially in my line of work."

Reuben nodded "true, true," he then nudged him encouragingly "well, we can remain bachelors until Jumba makes another female genetic experiment, who loves sandwiches, for me. And when we find a female who is just as much of a simpleton as you are."

Reuben had in fact braced himself for a big pummel at that point. He purposely teased his friend once again, but strangely enough, he didn't feel a thing. Grasping his head tightly with both hands, Reuben opened one of his tightly shut eyes and slowly lifted his head. Gantu, obviously, hadn't heard him. Instead, his head was locked in the opposite direction from where Reuben was situated. Reuben took a moment to notice that Gantu hadn't heard him before he followed his gaze briefly. His eyes scoured through the endless sea of sharks _**cough-cough**_ Shaeleks and soon found themselves locked upon a familiar face. It was the Chief herself, walking into the space port via the other doors located at the other end. She was not walking in professionally this time. Actually, much to his surprise, she was simply smiling and strolling in rather casually with another Officer. He watched as the Officer, another male around the same height as Gantu, and the female made a somewhat friendly kind of gesture towards one another. Oh Blitznak, she actually WAS smiling! Obviously she wasn't as serious as Reuben had mistaken her to be.

"Who's that dork?" Reuben remarked, leaning into Gantu slightly.

"I don't know," Gantu responded, rather half dazed and not paying much attention to Reuben. "I have never seen him before."

"Ooooh, looks like you've got some competition there buddy," Reuben teased, now bringing Gantu's full attention back on him once more.

Gantu merely grumbled and picked up Reuben with his opposite hand and then proceeded to place his little Galley Officer down on the floor. "Go over there and tell Chief Zettar that she is required on our ship. Tell her I want her to meet the security crew before the launch."

Reuben held an arm up in protest at his tall companion and shook his head "hey, why don't you do it? She's your new partner!"

Gantu crouched down and poked Reuben in the stomach gently as a hint to go in her direction. "Yes, and I am a Captain of a very large ship. I have much more important responsibilities to attend to, than compared to you. Now go over there and do as your commanding Officer has instructed, and tell our newest crew member to come here and make herself acquainted with the rest of the crew." He poked him again, this time more harshly as he leaned in and his eyes squinted with a slight seriousness about them. "Do it, or I cut your baloney orders to half."

Reuben gasped at that last comment. A life without all of his baloney was a life not worth living. He knew at this point that he would have to do as Gantu had instructed. His precious sandwiches were at stake! He could always tell when Gantu was desperate for his sandwich making friend to do favours for him. He always threatened to cut his supplies down or cancel the orders for his sandwich magazines he had teleported from the Earth importing asteroid. And of course, Reuben took it all completely seriously. He knew that most times, Gantu wouldn't have the gall to do such a thing, but if he ever did, Reuben would be able to put up a fight of defence if he did all of these good deeds for his best friend. And in all fairness, it was Gantu's salary that helped him have his endless supply of sandwich imports come through. Their pay was a lot better since they had stopped working for Hämsterviel. So with this, it meant more sandwiches!

"Alright, alright," Reuben shoved Gantu's finger away as he stormed off in the direction of the female Shaelek "but if I get squished by one of your overly-large police buddies, I'll make your life a living nightmare!"

"And be quick about it!" Gantu shouted to his leaving companion as he began to get back up onto his feet "we have lots to do in very little time, before the launch!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." Reuben's voice could barely be made out. Gantu could no longer hear what he was saying and merely brushed it off before he headed in the opposite direction to where his ship was located. He would gather his security crew together in order to introduce them to Chief Zettar. He figured the sooner they were introduced, the better and less stressful it would be on him.

Reuben sulked as he flailed his arms about dramatically, moaning about how incompetent and big headed his best friend was. He knew why he had sent him to retrieve Zellah. He was too scared to do it himself! What a baby! He had just chickened out of talking to a girl! That was something a shy school boy would do, not a Captain of the Galactic Armada. Reuben decided it would be quicker, and safer, if he crawled on the floor rather than walked. He was taking a huge risk making his way across the space port filled with aliens over 10 times his own size. Next to no one noticed him. Therefore, if he did not watch where he was going, he could be squished like a bug by the large feet of the many bulky male Shaelekean aliens, all storming about the port around him. As he approached the female Chief and the unknown male Officer, he noticed they had stopped to talk in a little corner nearby a small deactivated Shaelekean police cruiser. Getting up from his crawling position after getting away from the busy crowd, Reuben swiftly stood on two legs once again, adjusted his uniform and his hat and then marched forward proudly. He took about 5 steps before he swiftly halted. The two Officers were now talking. And from what he could hear, they were talking about... Gantu?!

"So, today's the day eh?" The male questioned, his tone rather relaxed. Reuben noticed the female gaze down in his general direction and quickly hid behind a crate of supplies that was left discarded nearby. She hadn't spotted him. Thank Polluxar. But instead, she leant on the side of the police cruiser with one arm and took a sip from the cup she was holding in the other.

"Yeah," she responded dimly, gazing at the contents in her cup. "Three words... Kill. Me. Now."

The male Shaelekean Officer heartily laughed in response. Reuben's head turned from behind the crate and gazed up at the pair. He noticed Chief Zettar's expression. She was not as amused as her colleague. The male shook his head and still let out the occasional chuckle before speaking again.

"Oh come on now," he smirked "it can't be all that bad! You'll be going around the galaxy catching bad guys. Think of it as an adventure."

"Are you kidding me Jaarl?" She placed her free hand on her hip as she addressed the other Officer, who was now known by the name Jaarl. Reuben's eyes shifted between them. The male seemed a lot more relaxed than the female. And Zellah obviously, judging by her posture and what she had just said, was not thrilled to be joining their crew in the Galactic Alliance. Yet another thing she shared in common with Gantu. The list was ever growing! "You really think, that I'm gonna think of it as an adventure?" She continued "I'm being forced into working for the Galactic Alliance, of all organizations! The ones who constantly get escapees running all over the galaxy because they don't have the balls to enforce tough measures on their prisoners! I'd much rather work for the Klegonian police force than the Galactic Alliance. At least the Klegonians aren't all puffs!"

Is this what she really thought of the Galactic Alliance? Reuben's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't seemed like this when they were first introduced. But then again, she was with her superior Officer that entire time. And as she was claiming, she was being _"forced"_ into this partnership with Gantu. Reuben had guessed it had all been set up by the Commander on her side, just as it had by the Grand Councilwoman with them. She wouldn't be able to bitch about it in front of her superior, but she certainly could to anyone else. Just as long as Commander Turak was not present to hear it.

"But your partner is a Shaelek too," Jaarl explained, he then tilted his head slightly and continued to speak. Reuben was now all ears, they were now speaking about a certain someone who he was well acquainted with. "Actually, speaking of him... what's he like?"

Reuben locked his eyes onto the face of Zellah, he studied her expression closely. She was about to say her real opinion on his best friend. She was still oblivious to his presence; and Reuben knew that eavesdropping was a bad thing. But this was his best friend they were talking about. He did have the right to know about how this female really thought about her newly assigned partner and '_senior'_ Officer. Her facial expression actually went rather blank, and much to Reuben's surprise, she placed her cup on the wing of the police cruiser and leant up against it further. It took her several moments to form the words to respond to her fellow Officer's query. Obviously she was choosing the right words to say to him. However, the suspense was killing poor Reuben.

"He's..." she placed both hands onto the cool metal as she spoke, her tone unrecognisable. "Well, let's just say, he's very strange. Actually no, strange would be an understatement. I'd call him a right doofus, if I had to choose any one word to describe his character."

"Doofus?" Jaarl snorted in amusement.

"Yeah," she nodded simply "during our briefing, he hadn't a clue about what was going on with the criminal gangs. It was like explaining it all to a Rookie! And after my interrogation, he looked at me as if I were insane! Not to mention, I felt rather uncomfortable with his constant staring. Like I said... he's strange."

Reuben turned his body and leant back against the crates as he continued to overhear the conversation between the two Shaelek Officers. Well... this was not what he expected to hear from her mouth. He was either thinking that she would speak highly of him, or rather nastily (the more likely of the two options). Instead, she was actually rather neutral. Of course, she wasn't the first person who thought Gantu a little strange. Then again, even Reuben knew his companion was completely _off the top of his head_ from time to time. And the term 'doofus' was a word Reuben often used to describe him. That was something which actually made Reuben, for an unexplained reason, actually like her. If this was what she thought about Gantu, and if she agreed with Reuben's opinions, the pair would get along just fine. And perhaps she would be a great addition for 'insult back-up' with him. He always needed some extra back-up when it came to insulting his best friend. And she would be the perfect one to join in.

"Or perhaps he likes you, eh?" Jaarl nudged her teasingly as she inched away from him. Reuben noticed a small, rather disgusted, scowl appear on her face. Similar to the look Gantu had given him with the exact same teasing. But unlike Gantu's look, Reuben could tell this was genuine. Gantu's impression on her had obviously not gone down well. Yet again, she didn't seem the type of female to swoon at every male in the room. She was one of the few who actually stood her ground against them. Perhaps she was against all males, or at least having any sort of physical contact (other than violence) with them.

"Please," she swatted his arm away, her tone very displeased "don't insult me. Sure he has rather large muscles, larger than most of the Officers here even. But I'd rather not think about whatever is going through his head, especially about me. I've had too many idiots confront me about the opposite sex in my lifetime. I don't need a wannabe _'Captain' _of the _'Galactic softie Armada'_ be added to that list, thank you very much."

"Oh Zel," Jaarl smirked and wrapped his arms around his chest. "So, I take it you're gonna treat him with the same contempt you treat everyone else, with the exception of me, here?" She tilted her head and her soft purple eyes widened in response to his comment. He shook his head and then proceeded to place both of his bulky hands on his hips rather seriously. "But if you scare him away, you won't catch the bad guys!"

"Oh, I don't think he'll be scared of me that easily Jaarl," she smirked and picked up her cup again and swirled its liquid contents around gently. "I think he's got the ego the size of the Whirlpool Galaxy. Judging by his past record, he's been known to never back down from a fight."

"Oh Blitznak," Jaarl muttered, his eyes widening in surprise for a split second before they dimmed down again and his mouth shifted into a very sly smirk. He edged closer to his colleague and spoke closely to her. Luckily though, Reuben's sensitive ears could hear what was being said. "Please, just do me one favour. If he does challenge you to a brawl, be sure to pick up a camera and document it all. I would pay to see the Captain of the Galactic Alliance go up against you. He wouldn't stand a chance!"

Reuben couldn't help but agree there. He knew that Gantu wouldn't stand a chance against Zellah, if she ever challenged him to a fight. She was without mercy. Especially with the way she had treated that prisoner in the interrogation bay yesterday. Gantu however, was a big softie deep down. He had lost tons of fights, most of which being with his own cousins and several times to some humans. One of those humans being an old lady. Gantu had told him never to speak of that moment, but Reuben couldn't help but chuckle at the very thought of Gantu being taken down by an old lady. He only wished he had been there to see it in action.

Suddenly, Zellah and Jaarl's attentions were raised in the opposite direction. The same direction Reuben had just headed from. He followed their gaze but couldn't see anything due to him being so tiny when compared to the other Officers all stalking around the space port in a great hurry. But Reuben's confusion was soon brought to a quick halt when Jaarl spoke up.

"I am to assume, that **he** is your new partner?"

Reuben's eyes widened in a horrific sort of way. SHIT! He hadn't done what Gantu had instructed. Instead he was leaning against a crate of food supplies, listening in to the private conversations of their newest crew member and a random Officer. And Gantu had ordered him to be quick about it. Blitznak! He would be in big trouble as soon as he got back to the ship.

"Yep," Zellah simply put as both of their attentions were locked upon a Shaelek attired in a completely separate uniform to their own. He was calling out to them from across the space port from the entrance of his ship. From the height of the two Shaelek's, they could both see several smaller lizard-like aliens in white and black armour standing by him. From this distance they looked rather small, but they stood out like sore-thumbs when they were compared to the rest of the blue uniforms that circulated the port, worn by each Shaelekean Officer.

"You weren't joking about those muscles," Jaarl remarked, waving in response to the Captain's call out. "Woooo, boy! Don't lose it while working with him Zel. You don't know how many girls back home would kill to be with a guy built like him. They'll all be jealous of you."

Chief Zettar suddenly burst into hysterics and keeled over for a split second. "Hahahahaha, are you kidding me?!" She patted the male's shoulder and shook her head, breathing in deeply in order to regain her usual posture. "You don't know how much I'd give to swap with any of them. They can have this guy for all I care. I certainly don't want him!" She then grimaced as she turned her attentions back in the direction of Gantu once more. "Oh Blitznak, he's coming over..."

Reuben couldn't help but restrain laughter at the conversation he had just heard. Since when was Gantu considered an attractive guy by the females of his own species? He had gone out with one female throughout his whole life, and just look at how she had turned out. Reuben had always guessed that Gantu's muscle was just a natural thing his species gained. But judging by the other Officers here, it was something they had to work for, in order to gain it. But this Zellah Zettar certainly, judging by what she had just said, did not find him attractive. This blew all of his comments about her liking him out of the window. But Reuben knew that this wasn't what Gantu thought about her. He could still get a kick or two out of that at least right? But after he had heard of Gantu's sudden movement, he began to panic. What should he do? Hide? Make his appearance known? Stay put? Go away? What? In the end, Reuben just stayed where he was and awaited his friend's arrival at the scene. He would make his presence known when it was necessary. Not any time before then.

Meanwhile, Gantu had lost his patience with his Galley Officer's incompetence. He couldn't send him on a simple mission without him goofing off could he? When would he learn? The Captain had gathered his security crew from within the ship and awaited the arrival for Chief Zettar and Reuben, but as time progressed, neither of them showed. It only took a simple focussed eye around the space port to notice that Chief Zettar and her mysterious male companion were unmoved. Instead, they both continued to talk as if nothing had bothered them. Where in Blitznak had Reuben buggered off to now? There were no sandwich shops on this space port, as he was made aware of at least, so where else could he have gone? Eventually losing patience. Gantu called out to the Chief, only to get partly-ignored by her and waved at by her male companion. He then took it upon himself to make his way in their general direction. Instructing his security crew to accompany him.

He had noticed the stance and posture of the two Officers as he made his way through the busy crowd of Shaelekean Officers on the port. Neither of them looked too thrilled to be approached by him. Though, the male was trying to show a more positive approach rather than his female companion. Zellah turned her head expectantly in Gantu's direction as he walked up to her. A forced smile appeared on his face as he stood to attention and addressed her as a superior Officer would to his crew member.

"Chief Zettar," Gantu spoke, his voice low and his tone proud and professional. His hands fell to their sides and his head held firm. Zellah returned his gesture by doing the same. She dragged her body off of the side of the idle police cruiser and stood proudly also. She stomped a foot down and placed her hand to her forehead, giving him a quick salute.

"Captain Gantu."

Behind Gantu, the three security guards shifted awkwardly. All three, wearing their full body armour, with their faces shielded by their helmets. Each of them were carrying their blasters in both of their arms, and the occasional sound of their arms clenching against each other could be heard from above. Zellah's attentions went from the Captain, down to these three Officers. She immediately knew who they were. But she allowed Gantu to give her the benefit of the doubt and introduce her to them formally.

"Chief Zettar, I'd like to introduce you to the security crew on board the BRB 11,000. These Officers are who you will be in charge of, during your time with us as Chief of security." Gantu pointed down as the Officers stepped forwards and stood to attention before the female Shaelek.

"We are honoured to make your acquaintance ma'am," one of them spoke through their visor. Zellah smiled and bowed her head as a sign of respect for the Officer.

"As am I sir," Zellah responded calmly.

Reuben sought this as an opportunity to make his presence known once more. He slipped out, very cautiously, from behind the crate and walked over towards his fellow crew members, acting as if nothing was wrong. Gantu's head gazed down and a disapproving scowl appeared on his face as Reuben joined them, standing nearby the taller male lizard-like security guards.

"Hey, guys," Reuben smiled, waving a paw up at Zellah and Jaarl, who both gazed down in alarm at his sudden, and rather casual, presence. "So, what did I miss?"

Gantu grumbled under his breath and muttered something which no one else could hear. He simply kicked Reuben behind his leg rudely and made a half-grimace, half-forced smile as he gazed back up at the sketchy Chief. Her purple eyes looked very puzzled and slightly displeased at him. His presence was obviously getting on her nerves.

"So," Jaarl smiled at the Captain and held out his hand as a polite gesture "you are the famous Captain Gantu, I believe?"

"Yes," Gantu shook his hand, rather confused as to who he was. "And who might you be, if you don't mind me asking?"

Jaarl and Zellah exchanged a rather strange glance. Judging from where Gantu was stood, he almost thought he saw, smirking. Had he missed something here? He, unlike Reuben, had no idea of what these two really thought about him.

"I am Major Jaarl sir," the male Shaelek responded politely. "I will be taking Chief Zettar's position while she is assigned to your crew."

Gantu merely nodded and turned his head away from the male. There was something about him which made him feel uneasy. He was about his age and height, and he had less of a muscular built physique than compared to him. Yet, despite this, Gantu, for a reason he could not figure out, actually felt threatened by this guy. Was it because he seemed rather friendly with the female Chief? No... why should that bother him? He couldn't put his finger on it. But soon enough, Gantu would simply shake it off when another thing would grasp their attentions.

"Ah, I see everyone is all here!" Another voice broke out from behind. Everyone turned their bodies to face the person who spoke. It was the Commander.

Chief Zettar placed both hands behind her back calmly and tilted her feet up and down from the ground, making her slightly taller for a split second. The Commander grasped the shoulder of Major Jaarl and Chief Zettar with a rather proud grip. He then turned to Gantu, his security crew and Reuben and grinned humbly.

"Captain, you see before you, the finest Officers in the Creblock quadrant," his voice boasted strongly. Reuben shook his head slightly and rolled his eyes. This guy was too egotistic with the way he spoke about his crew. There was pride, and then there was being conceited and self-righteous. And this Commander had ticked both of those boxes. "I see you have met Major Jaarl, brilliant, strapping young man! He will be the perfect replacement for Zellah here," the Commander winked over at his younger female Officer. Gantu had noticed the pride swell with the way the Commander looked at her and her male Major companion. He was acting, kind of, like a father figure to the pair. Perhaps that was what he viewed himself as. After all, he was old enough to be their father. Turak then let go of each of their shoulders and his eyes locked onto Gantu once again as he finished off his sentence. "while you go about your business taking down these criminal gangs that is."

Gantu merely nodded in response and tried his best to put on a smile. In all truth, he hadn't the time or the energy to waste on such silly talk. This was a police port, not a high school graduation ceremony! But he finally sought the opportunity to intervene before the superior, and rather big-headed, Officer could boast any more about his employees.

"Speaking of which, I must say it is coming up to the time that we should start out on our launch," Gantu tried to be as polite as possible with the manner of which he was speaking. The Commander's satisfied features suddenly dropped and he placed a hand in his uniform pocket to pick out a tiny time-hologram (what most aliens used instead of the Earth wrist or pocket watch). He merely gazed at the hologram with a rather uneasy gaze and nodded briefly.

"Yes Captain," he finally said turning to Zellah in response "Chief Zettar, it is time to say your goodbyes. I trust everything is prepared?"

She nodded "yes sir."

The Commander turned back to Gantu one last time and placed out his hand. Gantu accepted it almost instantly and shook it several times. "I leave my Chief of security in your capable hands Captain Gantu. May you have the best of luck on your upcoming missions, and may the Gods of Shaelekar be with you both."

He released his grip on the younger Captain's hand and turned back to his Chief. "You have five minutes to say your goodbyes to Major Jaarl, Zellah. Then I insist that you leave with the Captain." He saluted boldly to her and she immediately returned his gesture. "I take my leave of you all. I am sure you both will bring great honour to our planet." And with this, he tilted his head in the direction of Gantu and his crew before he left their presence. This time for good. Gantu knew this would be the last time he would see the Commander of the Shaelek police force for some time. And in some ways, he was thankful for it.

Gantu, Reuben and the security crew merely stood aside and watched as Chief Zettar and her male Major companion said their fond farewells. Reuben couldn't help but look up and exchange a strange glance with his friend as they watched the female and the male exchange a tight embrace. It was weird seeing her like this. Especially since Major Rozcor had told Gantu that Zellah Zettar was pretty much as cold as ice around other Officers. Yet here she was, exchanging a friendly embrace with one of the _said_ Officers. This guy had to be pretty special to her, for her to do such a thing as this. Perhaps she was his girlfriend or something? That was an assumption Gantu had made. Reuben however, just saw them as overly attached friends. Either way, it was none of their concern. It was unlikely that they would ever see this guy again, so what did it matter? And even though they didn't know it yet, that was something which would come back to haunt them in the future.

The male Officer took his leave sooner than Gantu had anticipated. He had assumed that he and his crew would be standing there awaiting their new member for at least five minutes. But surprisingly she was ready in two. Before Gantu had known it, his attentions were suddenly raised when the female Chief stood barely two feet away from him, her arms crossed and a neutral expression on her face. He almost jumped in surprise when she stepped before him.

"I am ready for action sir," she spoke expectantly. Gantu nodded and stepped aside, his arm ushering her to step forward in front of him. She did not take long to oblige him. Soon they made their way towards the ship. The security crew in front, then the new Chief, then Reuben and then finally Captain Gantu himself. Walking across the port, Gantu noticed a lot of Officers gaze in his general direction. They all paused in their general activities and stood to attention as they bustled past. They were all marking a sign of respect for the departure of their Chief of security. It was kind of like the respecting welcome Gantu had received from them the day before. But this time, he figured it was more because of Zellah Zettar's departure. She was a well respected Officer of a very high rank. Naturally all her inferior Officers would mark a sign of respect for her.

As they made their way up the ramp leading up to the BRB 11,000, the Chief stopped one final time to give a salute to her fellow Shaelekean Officers. As she did this, the whole port erupted with cheering and applause. She smiled contentedly and remained stood, taking it all in, for several moments before she made her way inside. Reuben followed her behind. But Gantu however, stopped in his tracks for a moment. He turned around and his eyes softened as they slowly scoured the port for a final time. He hadn't been here a day, and already he was unsure about leaving. In some ways he wanted to stay, but at the same time, he knew that it was not where he belonged. He belonged in the depths of space, fighting the bad guys, each of various species and origin. He took a deep inhale of air and exhaled out. Leaning his arm on the side of the ship, he remained motionless for several more moments. That was before he felt a small touch on his leg from below. Gantu's head peered down to see Reuben standing there, his face rather encouraging and at ease. Gantu smiled and gazed back up at the crowd of his own kind, for one final time.

"Well Reuben," he spoke, his head not moving in the direction of his smaller companion "this is it. This is what marks the beginning of one hell of a ride. I'm not sure I'm up for it."

"None of us are," Reuben added, his paw tapping Gantu's leg encouragingly again "but we'll battle through it. We always do! Together."

"Thanks buddy," Gantu's mouth formed a grin and his head finally peered down again. Reuben tapped his leg another two times before he finally turned to head back into the ship. Gantu soon followed and did not bother to look back. "Well," he stopped a moment and turned to press the button for the door to close. "Goodbye Shaelekar. Hello adventure."

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><p>Authors note: On that note, everything will be changing from now on! Gantu and Zellah's relationship will finally have a turning point from this point onwards. I hope you are all enjoying this story so far. If you are, then please feel free to comment on it! I am all open to people's views. Thank you all for reading and the next chapter will be up very soon!<p> 


	8. Chapter 8: Mission Meltrok

Chapter 8: Mission Meltrok

Authors note: A HUGE thank you to the authors **Sharca** and **Masume-Sama** for taking the time to review my story! I am very appreciative of you feedback and I look forward to your thoughts on the next few chapters. **Sharca** also has a Gantu related fic on Fanfiction entitled 'When Men Were Divine Mortals' which I have read and adore! Feel free to check it out. Anyway, thank you guys for reviewing once again, and this chapter is dedicated to you both. Enjoy reading!

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><p>Gantu awoke the next morning with a sense of dread about him. He knew today was going to be the day of his first official assignment with his new partner. After breakfast he would have his crew set the hyperdrive coordinates for the miserable crime-ridden and polluted planet. Meltrok. Oh, how he loathed that planet with a passion. If it wasn't the criminals that were situated there, it was the lack of air and the sweltering heat. He had been there before on a previous mission, one which had actually been a success. But the planet's atmosphere was a lot less than to be desired. The pollution was disgusting. All the scum who lived and breathed there had no reason for releasing so many noxious gases into the atmosphere, but they did it none the less. Those were the kinds of people who lived there. He had found that Earth's population were rather similar with the way they treated their 'Global Warming' crisis. They just didn't care. But the Humans themselves were tolerable enough. That was something which could not be said for the various alien species who congregated on Meltrok.<p>

Seven o'clock in the morning, according to planet Turo time. That was the time he had always set his alarm. He would have set his alarm to whatever time it was in this particular quadrant, but unfortunately, it was difficult to tell whilst in the endless vacuum of space. Therefore it was easier to go with the time he knew. The alarm broke the peaceful and tranquil silence in the room, very unwelcomingly. Gantu lay under the covers, spaced out at the centre of his large double bed. He grunted at the sound of his alarm and a bulky grey arm proceeded to come out of the comfortable white sheeted covers and bash the alarm clock at the side of the bed harshly. It was lucky that this alarm clock was Shaelek proof and could take a good pounding, or else it would have broken on him. As all his alarm clocks did on Earth. He had lost count of how many he had replaced during his time there. Instead of getting up straight away, Gantu merely grumbled and turned over onto his side. He was awake, but he felt very reluctant to get up. Everything was perfect when he was alone and in bed. Nothing could harm him, resist him, disobey him or, more importantly, try to kill him. But, like many Officers in his position, he knew he would have to face the music at some point. And Chief Zettar was no doubt waiting for him to arrive on deck. He was not looking forward to today.

He peeled the sheet off of his warm body and sat up in his comfortable bed. Rubbing his eyes and letting a very long yawn escape his lips, he knew he felt like crap. Well, anyone with logic rarely woke up feeling great and alive. That was just something the movies liked to portray. Gantu's bare chest suddenly felt a cold rush of air brush against it harshly. He had forgotten that the air conditioning generator automatically turned itself on at this time. Before he could catch a chill, he hauled himself up and proceeded to head towards the other room where his shower was situated. He would have his morning shower, and then prepare himself for active duty, before heading to the Galley to get breakfast. This was just the typical morning routine for the Captain of the Galactic Alliance.

After showering, getting changed and making sure he was fit for duty, Gantu exited his cabin slowly. He never tended to rush out of his quarters unless there was an emergency or if he was running late for something. And what was the point in rushing this morning? He always set his alarm for an earlier time so he would be up before the rest of the crew. He had to set an example for his other Officers, especially since he was the Captain.

All it took was a couple of paces down some corridors, an elevator ride in order to go two floors down, and a swift turn right for his journey to the Galley. He knew it wouldn't be busy yet. No one else tended to enter the Galley for breakfast until about half an hour before everyone went on active duty. And since that was over an hour away, Gantu was relieved that he could have the first helpings of whatever food the chefs had prepared for him.

Entering the Galley through the automatic doors, he stopped to yawn again. His eyes were drawn and the way he walked was lifeless, almost zombie-like. Sure he was wide awake physically, but mentally he was still half asleep. Gantu made his way over towards the food counter and picked up a tray and a plate before making his way to be served. There was no line. There never was at this time in a morning. But there were voices. The usual voices he had grown accustomed to over the past five years. Yes, it was the same typical morning routine on board the BRB 11,000.

"Listen pal, when I said 'make my toast well done', I didn't mean burn it to a black crisp!"

Gantu didn't even bother to look down on the counter and notice his little friend Reuben having an argument with one of the chefs over the serving hatch. He merely pointed down at a plate of Haglonian eggs with bacon and signified to another chef, of the same species, to give it him. The other chef did as instructed before preparing a drink for his commanding Officer. Reuben didn't acknowledge Gantu's presence at all; neither did Gantu with him. This was a regular thing that happened in a morning while getting breakfast. Reuben got up even earlier than Gantu with the full blown intent to pick a fight with a particular alien chef in the Galley. The same chef who had a reputation of burning things.

"Well ya don't 'ave to be rude about it!" The chef came back with a very silly retort as Gantu picked up his drink of juice and left the counter to go and sit down and eat his breakfast. Reuben remained determined not to lose this argument and stood rather aggressively on the counter, poking the one eyed pink alien chef annoyingly.

"I'll stop being rude, when you stop turning my precious bread the colour of a newly formed Black Hole!" He bellowed back.

The chef and the persistent Galley Officer continued to war if out as Gantu sat down. He blanked both of their voices and merely gazed down at his food, displeasure evident on his tired features. The food was similar to what Reuben was complaining about. Burnt and very unappetising. He hardly noticed it while at the food counter. But now he was sat down at the table overlooking the food contents, he was not very happy with the result. Pushing the food contents away, Gantu merely took a sip of his drink (the only thing that could not be burnt) and gazed about the room slowly. No one else but Reuben and the two pink Herigun alien chefs were present. Well, that was what he had observed, until his eyes followed up to the window. His lifeless eyelids suddenly widened as he noticed yet another Officer present in the corner of the Galley. It was none other but Chief Zellah Zettar herself. Leaning up against the frame of the window overlooking the pitch black nothingness of space. She held a mug in her hands and sipped from it occasionally. Her gaze wondered off out of the window and she looked surprisingly distant. Gantu decided to stand up and approach her. He hadn't made one word of conversation with her since she boarded their ship the day before. He sought this as an opportunity to try and start now.

Zellah's eyes did not shift from the window. She hadn't noticed the Captain make his way in her direction. He stood before her rather awkwardly as she continued to look away, unaware of his presence. He took that opportunity to get her attention by clearing his throat rather loudly. That would surely get her attention. And it did!

The female Shaelek almost jumped in surprise as her head shifted to the direction of Gantu not but a split second after he had cleared his throat. She almost looked rather… defensive. Gantu was taken aback and instantly regretted trying to get her attention. He certainly hadn't expected her to tense up the way she had.

"Captain Gantu," she jumped slightly, her voice sounding rather alarmed. "I didn't see you standing there."

"Oh," Gantu shifted awkwardly "I am sorry." He felt his eyes fall down in the direction of her hips. He was rendered rather speechless. Oh Blitznak! What should he say? He hadn't exactly planned the conversation. Big mistake. "D-did you have a good night's sleep?" Yes! Perfect response! That should do it.

"Not really," was her only answer. Gantu was rather aghast from her reply. He hadn't expected that. Actually he had expected a nice response such as a _"Yes, thank you for asking sir."_ Or something along those lines. He certainly did not expect an answer to his question in the form of a _"not really."_

Gantu knew he would not be satisfied with this as a final response. He needed to know why she said this or else it would play on his mind all day. "May I ask why you did not?"

"The air pressure was terrible and I come from a different time zone," she simply stated, trying not to complain. "It will take some getting used to, but I'm sure my chest and my sleeping pattern will adjust to it."

She took another sip of her cup and then pressed her free hand to her chest area and caressed it through her uniform. Gantu's eyes followed her hand as it trailed from her neck to above her breast area. It took all of his will power not to stare below where her hand was situated. Mentally, he screamed at himself to look away, but his eyes would not budge. He hadn't realised how much he had missed getting close to the females of his species until now. And boy did he feel like a simpleton for it. Luckily though, she hadn't noticed. Instead she gazed over in the opposite direction nearby the serving hatch where Reuben was still arguing with the chef. Her vibrant purple eyes lit up as she watched the little yellow experiment start to turn rather violent towards the chef, much to his own dismemberment. Gantu however was still staring in her general direction, a rather longing gaze fixed in his dull blue eyes.

"I'll show you who's a lazy cook, you sandwich making bastard!" A voice broke out from the other end of the room, soon followed by a smash. Zellah watched in amusement as Reuben was now having plates thrown in his general direction by a very enraged chef. The tiny experiment ducked for cover and jumped off of the serving hatch as fast as possible, as bits of sharp china bounced off of the hatch and onto floor. This was a point at which Gantu should have intervened. But since his mind was more agreeably engaged, he was not paying any attention to the situation going on at the other end of the room.

Reuben held his body against the wall underneath the serving hatch and breathed in deeply. He was highly alert and rather mortified at having plates thrown at him. But that was what he got for pestering one of the chefs constantly. "HEY! You can't do that! I am the Galley Officer!"

Zellah chuckled as the small pink one-eyed alien chef climbed over the table and confronted the Galley Officer, his three hands each holding a stack of plates. Reuben let out a yelp and immediately ran out of the room and into the kitchen. The fuming chef soon followed, and the occasional sound of smashing and shrieking could be heard from within the other room.

"They've been arguing like that for over half an hour," Zellah commented, not bothering to look at Gantu as she said this. "I must say, your Galley Officer is a very determined little thing, Captain."

Gantu finally snapped out of his little daydream and focussed back onto reality. He had briefly caught what his new Chief of security had said and nodded in agreement as he tore his gaze off of her chest area at just the right time. She now turned to look at him once again. Her gaze rather bright and captivating.

"Yes," Gantu adjusted himself and stood proudly, ignoring the smashing sounds from the kitchen. "Officer Reuben and our chefs have never seen eye to eye. Unfortunately, that particular chef burns things far too often."

Her brow shifted in confusion "then why don't you fire him and hire a new chef?"

Gantu sighed and shrugged his shoulders in response. "I have already tried that, but the Grand Councilwoman insists we keep him. I'm thinking it's more for financial reasons than anything else."

"I see," she gazed down back at her cup and swirled its remaining contents rather awkwardly. Gantu merely shifted his feet and his lips clenched together in a rather uncomfortable manner. He hated it when situations suddenly went awkward. Especially when he talked to new Officers who he barely knew anything about. Luckily, she spoke again, this time taking the conversation to a completely different topic. Something which concerned them both. "So, when are we heading to Meltrok? It's a good ten thousand light years away from the Creblock system as I have gathered."

"We will be engaging the hyper drive after breakfast." He explained "we will need time to allow the system to charge. Since our ship is large and will require a lot of power to be used, in order for any excessive space travel to take place."

"And how long do you estimate that will take?" She questioned curiously. He took a moment to calculate the distance and how long it took to travel that distance in hyper space.

"A few hours at most," Gantu placed his hand behind his back and calmly gazed out of the window "we should complete our mission on Meltrok by the end of the day."

"Very good sir," the Chief followed his example and gazed out of the window also. Gantu couldn't help but feel his head slip in her direction from time to time. Her gaze was unmoved and she never looked at him once. Yet _he_ could not stop staring at her. What in the Horse Head Nebula was wrong with him? Perhaps it was just a small phase he was going through. He certainly hoped so at least. This was the last thing he needed at this point in his career. Right now he needed to be fixed on catching the bad guys. Professional and assertive! That was what he needed to be. Nothing more, nothing less.

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><p>"Alright men, I have called you all on deck so I can discuss this very important mission with you all."<p>

After breakfast was out of the way, every crew member on board the BRB 11,000 had been under strict orders to report to the Captain on the main bridge of the ship. It was not usually necessary for a briefing before a mission, well, not with most crew members at least. But this was no ordinary mission. It would be the first of many; tracking down gang members of a criminal organization and arresting them. And with a new Chief of security brought along for the trip, Gantu had sought this as an excuse to get into her good books. If he could show her how well he commanded his crew on his ship, then perhaps she would not be as persistent to take charge and have her own way, as she was rather accustomed to on Shaelekar. That was what he had hoped for at least.

Gantu was positioned in front of his high commanding chair, both Officer's Hermi and Armilia sat facing his behind, while everyone else was facing him directly, from the other end of the ship; all in a close huddle. Reuben and one of the security watchmen, the one who had been there during the escape of his cousin years before, were at the very front of the crowd of Officers, since they were the smallest. The others behind consisted of the other technical Officers, several of the ship's engineers and technical supervisors, the Galley crew and finally the security crew. Chief Zettar herself was stood, arms crossed, at the right hand side of the other Officers. And, like Gantu, she towered over them all. Gantu stood upright with a hand placed on his chair as his addressed his staff. He knew that what he was going to say would only apply to the security crew, but it was better to keep all of his crew informed about their new assignment, right?

"As you are well aware, we are charging up the hyper drive system and setting the coordinates for the planet Meltrok," Gantu then turned and signalled Officer Armilia to turn on the monitor screen above the two front technical Officers. The screen illuminated with a brief image of the Meltrok main city before it cut to a video of several of the security crew taking down a yellow and purple alien, around their height, and arresting him. "Several years ago we travelled there to arrest Mr. Kilofrah here, after he had escaped his home planet's custody and took several hostages. This time, ladies and gentlemen, our reason for being there is a lot more serious. We are unsure as to how many criminals in league with this gang are down there, but we know one thing." The video feed then cut off, only to be replaced by a picture of an all-too-familiar face. "Zellious Glornack is down there. It is our ultimate goal to re-arrest him and take him to Turo for questioning. Officer Reuben will accompany us to speak with the natives, since he is fluent in the Meltrokian language."

There was a slight murmur in the crowd of Officers, Gantu gazed down and watched as many unsure faces turned towards one another in confusion. Judging by what they were saying, they didn't sound too optimistic about his decision. It was probably a result of the fiasco they had with Zellious Glornack before. It must have put a damper on the rest of the crew as well as Gantu himself. Gantu knew he would have to reassure them that they would succeed this time around. But before he could do such a thing, he was somehow pushed aside by another figure as she stepped forward to address the other Officers. The Captain certainly was surprised when Zellah stepped forward and stood beside him, now gaining the attentions of the other crew members.

"Of course Glornack's capture will have to be swift. He is no kind of criminal who is easy to catch." The Chief spoke out, gently shoving Gantu aside in order to take his place. A few individuals about the room looked in confusion at the Chief of security. Gantu in particular was surprised she knew so much about Zellious Glornack. Unless...

"And how would you know so much about him?" Reuben questioned. He was one of the few in the room who had the guts to question what she was saying. Obviously, he wasn't intimidated by her at all.

The Chief's eyes locked onto him for a second as her mouth formed into a small smile. She turned her head briefly towards the monitor before turning back again to address him. "I have encountered him before," she explained, she then shifted her feet and placed her hands behind her back as she continued to speak. "He was under arrest several years back, for being in the possession of countless illegal drugs he was dealing on Shaelekar. We got the drop on him and my security crew and I were under strict orders to take him down. Speaking from experience, he was a tough cookie to get. But like most cookies, it felt sweet when we caught him. Unfortunately though," she crossed her eyes and turned back to the monitor, a scowl appearing on her features "we were unable to find enough evidence when it came to his trial. We were forced to let him go. But now we have a proper reason to arrest and imprison him. There is no way he can escape justice, this time."

"And we will be with you every step of the way, Chief Zettar," one of the lizard-like alien security crew members stepped forward, his weapon clenched tightly in his hands.

Gantu took this opportunity to step forward and address his crew once again. He had stood aside and watched as the newly commissioned Chief acted as if she were their leader, but Gantu knew that this would not do. He was the Captain, not her. She would have to be reminded of who was boss. He wasn't going to be as easy going as Commander Turak was on Shaelekar. And Zellah Zettar would have to get used to that.

"That will not be necessary this time," Gantu gazed down in the direction of his security staff. "I will not require the presence of the security crew until the criminals are located."

The security crew and their new Chief stood back as their eyes widened in surprise. Obviously this was new to them. With every mission, the Chief of security would lead the rest of the crew through whatever place they were about to make arrests, before locating the criminals and arresting them. This was a standard procedure Gantu himself had put into force, and now he was going against it? What was he exactly up to?

"Sir?" The same security Officer questioned, taking off his visor to show his very confused, yet concerned, face.

Gantu remained firm and placed his hands behind his back as he spoke again. He turned in the direction of Chief Zettar and addressed her, before he addressed everyone else. "We need to keep a low profile. Chief Zettar and Officer Reuben will be the only ones who will accompany me in the city. We will make enquiries from that point." He then leant against his chair with a bulky arm and leant down towards his security crew whilst continuing to explain his actions. "It will look too conspicuous if several armed security guards accompany us through a crime ridden city. The last thing we need right now is for a criminal to figure it out and escape before we can get to them."

"Why can't we just do a DNA system scan of the area and locate them that way?" Another Officer queried. Gantu arose once again and frowned a little.

"We cannot," his head shook slowly in response. "We have no idea who is down there. Let alone, who is actually a part of this whole criminal gang scandal. There are thousands of criminals down there who are worth arresting. But unfortunately, we have our mission to arrest only those who are guilty of the crimes of Intergalactic treason. That is why I think it is best that the security crew stay on board the police cruiser until we are certain we have the right men. Chief Zettar and Officer Reuben will accompany me for the questioning of the locals. If anyone knows of any suspicious activity going on down there, they sure will."

Everyone nodded at this. They knew their Captain had a point. If they wanted this mission to be a success, they would have to lay it low and make sure that no one would suspect their presence on the planet to be arresting certain criminals. The security crew would still be accompanying them, just not into the city itself. But some still wondered why the Chief of security would be accompanying the Captain and the Galley Officer to make enquiries. Reuben had his reason, being the only one who could speak their language. But what would the Chief have to offer? Perhaps this was a test to see what she could do. After all, she was a new crew member. Yes, perhaps that was it.

"Very well sir," many Officers spoke, some at once, and some, one after the other.

"You are all dismissed for now," Gantu told them, then turning in the direction of the two technical Officers at the front of the bridge. "Officer Armilia, Officer Hermi, set a course for Meltrok. I trust the hyper drive system is fully charged?"

"Yes sir," Officer Armilia responded, double checking the ship's computer to back up her claims. Gantu nodded and watched as everyone but his new Chief left the bridge to attend to their duties once again. Gantu arose from his leaning position and went to sit in his chair. He was feeling very confident. So much so, that a small smile found its way onto his features. His eyes soon found themselves gazing in the direction of Zellah again, this time he was beaming in pride. He had certainly shown her who was in charge. He watched as she folded her arms and did not even gaze in his general direction. She decided to go over to the corner of the bridge, out of the way of the other Officers. Gantu watched as she flipped out her Shaelekean blaster from her belt and began fiddling about with it. She was still wearing her police uniform from her home planet. She had been told that she could keep that as her existing uniform throughout her time with the Galactic Alliance, since her time with them was expected to be short and sweet and she would have no reason to wear a new uniform for such a short time. Also, she was not a full working member of the Galactic Alliance. Technically, she still worked for the police force on Shaelekar, therefore a change in uniform was certainly not necessary.

"Hyper drive activated," the computer's voice cracked through the speakers "coordinates locked. Destination: Planet Meltrok."

"I recommend you sit down Chief Zettar," Gantu called out to his female Chief. Her eyes merely looked up and followed where the voice that had just addressed her was coming from. Her eyes squinted slightly when she found herself looking directly at her new commanding Officer. He sat, turned to face her with his arm hanging over his chair and did not move a muscle. She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and sat down on a nearby unoccupied seat. After she did this, Gantu turned back around and leant over his two technical crew and used a hand to grab the hyper drive lever and finally pushed down on it. And within a split second, they were soon travelling through hyperspace.

* * *

><p>After several hours of travelling through hyperspace, the BRB 11,000 had finally made it to its destination. Located just outside the planet's atmosphere, Captain Gantu had ordered the ship remain stationary whilst he, Reuben, Chief Zettar and the security crew took a smaller red police cruiser to carry out their mission on the planet itself. The remaining crew members would keep in contact with the Captain through their receivers on board the BRB 11,000. They could no longer do anything until the cruiser had returned. It was now all up to the Captain and those who had accompanied him, in order for the mission to succeed.<p>

They had chosen a very isolated area to land the smaller police cruiser, it was located nearby the city, but not too close to draw attention to itself. Gantu had instructed all of his security Officers (besides Chief Zettar) to keep in close contact and remain onboard the ship until instructed to leave. And of course, they did as they were told. Zellah however, was a particularly sly character who was not particularly fond of following the orders of her new commanding Officer. This was something which had become evident to Captain Gantu over the past day or so of her being in his service.

"No weapons."

Chief Zellah Zettar's face shot up in objection as she fiddled about with her blaster to put in a new plasma cartridge. Her eyes widened, on high alert and a very low scowl appeared on her features. Gantu was now directly across from her in the small weapons unit inside the police cruiser. And he had just instructed her to do something which she had a high objection against.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Gantu crossed his arms firmly and pointed down at her red and black Shaelekean designed blaster. He remained assertive, much to her dismay. "We must be seen to be above any suspicion. Therefore, I do not wish you to have a weapon on this mission."

Gantu's blue eyes watched as the female Shaelek's facial expressions rapidly changed as she tried to figure out a way to react to this. She did not look happy at all. Actually, she looked like she was about to throttle him. Her eyes then looked down and locked themselves onto his waist area. She pointed rather harshly and placed a hand on her own waist very argumentatively.

"Then why do you have your weapon?" She shot her head back up, demanding an explanation almost immediately.

Gantu shifted and crossed his arms once again "I am the Captain," he stated coolly. Placing a hand on his weapon holster on his belt "I will be taking a weapon, purely for precaution purposes only. You will only be attending to observe. This mission is your test."

"And you expect me to do it without a blaster?" She scoffed, flailing about her arms unbelievably. "How the heck do you expect that will turn out?"

"I need to know I can trust you," Gantu explained, his voice very professional sounding. "You are a new crew member, and like all crew members, I need to know that you will follow my orders. You can surely pull this off without a weapon. We are merely making enquiries."

She shook her head and a very low grumble escaped her lips. Gantu knew that she was not happy with his decision to deprive her of her blaster, but she would have to get over it. He did need her to pull this off without a weapon. With a weapon, she would be unpredictable and rather difficult to control. Without one, it would be _slightly_ easier. His reasoning for depriving her of her weapon was actually quite simple. After what he had heard about her on Shaelekar, she was very dangerous with a weapon. Unpredictable and dangerous. Those were the two things Gantu hated in a crew member. Though, in some ways, he was a bit of a hypocrite in that sense, since he was almost just as bad, with a blaster in his possession.

"Fine," she finally slammed her blaster down on the desk. She was still in objection to his demands, but she knew that it would get her nowhere. And she certainly could not defy her commanding Officer, though she was trying very hard to do just that.

Once they had finally decided to head into the city itself, Gantu, Reuben and Zellah stuck close together, making sure that they would not get lost through the busy crowds. The main city of Meltrok was disgusting. Poor, low, filthy, dusty and disgusting. All of those words were the best to describe it. The streets were littered with trash and puddles of toxic waste. You had to watch where you stepped, unless you wanted to have your foot covered in corrosive chemicals. The dusty atmosphere was not very easy going on the chest. It made many of the aliens living there cough and splutter like crazy. The aliens who lived in the city were expected to live in small shacks made of wood and cloth. Certainly nothing out of the technological era. Sure this planet had the basic space technology most of the other planets in the galaxy had, but since it was not a rich planet, most of the people squandered their money for the pursuits of criminal activity, gambling, drug addictions, you name it! Meltrok was definitely not the planet that many scientific breakthroughs would be discovered.

The east side of the main city was where Gantu was headed. There it pretty much consisted of small clothed huts with tiny narrow street paths. Around this area, the constant stench of sewerage and noxious vapours entered the nose and made whoever smelt it want to heave. Reuben in particular, who had a very sensitive sense of smell, held his paws up to his tiny red nose in disgust. His face shrivelled in revolt at the stench. Gantu however tried his best to bare it. He, with Chief Zettar close behind, stormed in front. Reuben was no longer on his shoulder, instead he was forced to walk on the ground. He couldn't deny that he had noticed his best friend act very strange today. He was... dare he say, more stuck up than usual. He suspected that it had something to do with a certain female. Gantu now had competition and obviously felt threatened. Reuben had to laugh at the way his friend was behaving. When he said that his species were authoritarian and competitive, he never really mentioned that he himself was like that. Yet here he was, acting almost as bad as his female Chief. This would be very entertaining to watch.

When they had finally stopped to make enquiries in the centre of a tiny shack filled street, Gantu had Reuben flip out a holopad which he had carried with him and insisted that he showed it to each person they questioned, showing pictures of the suspects and recording their voices for later evidence. Zellah merely stood aside and crossed her arms as she gazed about the area beneath her feet. They were in some kind of market place. And it wasn't your typical produce market, oh, no! You wouldn't find food or homely goods here. Her eyes scoured from stall to stall and she noticed aliens, of various species, selling illegal weapons, illegal drugs, rip-off copies of technology from nearby planets and other various illegal imports. And not only were the stall holders selling them to random aliens, they were also selling them to children! Now imagine a three year old, four eyed, five legged, purple and brown skinned Meltrokian native, holding an advanced plasma blaster which was probably radioactive. Now, imagine them randomly/unintentionally opening fire on civilians. Yes, that was something every law enforcer would fear and dread. Little children had no idea of the harm those kinds of weapons could do to a person. Zellah herself had witnessed a little Shaelekean child gun down his entire family after being given such a weapon on her home planet. Why scum like these criminals would even think that giving children illegal weaponry was a good idea, she did not know. But it made her sick to her stomach just thinking about it. Oh, they knew what they were doing. The criminals wanted chaos. And they were giving it to them in large doses.

It took all of her might not to march over to these stalls and stomp on them with her large foot. She wanted to release all of her fury out on these criminal scum. But her mind would not allow it. She had been under strict orders by Gantu to remain close and observe the questionings that he and Reuben were carrying out. And Gantu did have a point, she would have no choice but to obey her new commanding Officer. He had made it clear to her that she was no longer on Shaelekar. And boy was she beginning to feel it!

Below, Reuben had finally managed to stop a native Meltrokian male in his tracks and consult him. The native was about his height and wore red rags for clothes. His red and yellow eyes looked worn and aged, though he himself was a youngish alien. They had suspected it was the atmosphere which did this to a person. That was one of the side effects of living on a toxic waste dump like Meltrok.

"Ugu meli hama lilpoloua?" Reuben questioned the native, speaking Meltrokian, using various hand signals as he spoke their dialect. The Meltrokian native shrugged his shoulders and responded in the exact same language as Reuben had just spoken.

"Yuh duri mele operfa!" He proclaimed, also using the same hand signals Reuben had just done. Reuben nodded and then looked up at Gantu, who was now crouched on one leg, his one arm resting on his bent leg and the other flat on his side. He remained close to his Galley Officer as he inched towards him.

"He says, he hasn't seen or heard of a criminal gang," Reuben told him. Gantu sighed and shook his head solemnly as he raised his hand to signal the Meltrokian to continue walking.

"Move it along," he ordered the native. And even though he didn't understand a word Gantu was saying, he got the message and continued walking. They continued doing this, accosting the natives of the planet who merely walked past them, randomly going about their own business. Some were more hostile than others and refused to speak to the "jujudaing" ("alien scum") they had referred to them as. Reuben himself had almost ended up in a fight with one of the Meltrokians after he pushed him aside harshly. Gantu obviously told him to let it go and continue questioning others. He reminded him that they did not have time for that.

Finally they had accosted another male Meltrokian who was actually willing to stop and hear what Reuben was saying. Gantu instructed his Galley Officer to show him the holographic images of the criminals they were trying to locate. Reuben did as he was told and soon found himself recording all of his conversation with the Meltrokian native using his holopad voice recorder.

"Ask him if he has seen any suspicious activity lately," Gantu instructed him. Reuben simply nodded and then looked back onto the Meltrokian after looking directly up at Gantu. He began making the same hand gestures as he cleared his throat and spoke the Meltrokian dialect once again.

"Ugu meli hama operfa, huy ugu mehe?" The Galley Officer then paused as he received frequent nodding from the very eager male Meltrokian. Gantu beamed in Reuben's direction and Reuben returned his gesture briefly before the Meltrokian was able to respond.

"Eh, eh, ahlo domehi bolao eckrete cometa!" He proclaimed rather ecstatically. Reuben's eyes followed as the excited Meltrokian bounced up and down non-stop. It made him rather dizzy after a while. This Meltrokian was rather eager for someone who had just been randomly stopped by a bunch of Intergalactic law enforcers in the middle of a very busy market place.

"What's he saying?" Gantu asked, bending down further in order to speak to his smaller companion. Reuben stepped back slightly, not looking at Gantu, and merely put a paw to his face and muttered the words to his commanding Officer as the Meltrokian continued to jump about like a hyperactive creature who had just consumed too much sugar.

"He says, he's seen some guys in the area with weapons," he then paused and turned back to the Meltrokian who continued to rave about in his native language to the little yellow experiment. Reuben listened in some more before continuing to speak. "Yesterday, two buff guys, near... the docks? Yeah, the docks!"

Gantu nodded and pointed towards the holopad. "Show him the criminals we are looking for," he instructed "and ask him if he recognizes any of them."

Stood aside from the pair of enquiring law enforces, Chief Zettar crossed her arms and a very displeased frown appeared on her features. She was not very thrilled to be doing this for her first official assignment with her new Captain. Actually, in all truth, she was bored as hell. Her eyes occasionally gazed down at Gantu, then to Reuben and then to the Meltrokian natives they were accosting randomly. And with each time, she huffed and pressed her arms to her chest moodily. She was beginning to grow very impatient. They had been doing this for over half an hour and they hadn't obtained any information what-so-ever from their enquiries. This was getting them nowhere fast! She gazed down yet another time to see what her commanding Officer was doing. He was crouched on one leg, directing Reuben with the questioning of yet ANOTHER native of the planet. She had counted seven Meltrokians. This was now the eighth. She was growing very, very tiresome of this. Listening to the little Galley Officer rattle on in the native language of the planet's populous was one thing. But to hear Captain Gantu rattle on with all sorts of ridiculous questions was another.

As she gazed down at the floor glumly, Zellah's attentions couldn't help but be averted away from the Galley Officer, the Meltrokian and the Captain and find themselves focussed on something else. She did not look up, but instead just listened closely as she heard a particular voice behind which stood out among all of the background noise.

"OI, WATCH WHERE YA GOING!" A voice broke out in the background. At this point, Zellah slowly turned around in the direction of the piercing yell. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw a male of her own species push aside a smaller alien (not a native to the planet) aside aggressively. And the male Shaelek wasn't alone, he had a 7 eyed companion alongside him. The Shaelek was tall, around the same height as Gantu, and wore a very buff attire. He looked like he had just came out of a wrestling match. His muscles were pumped up, obviously with the assistance of illegal space steroids and his blue eyes were rather bulging with rage. His companion however was about half his size, still quite tall as far as most alien species went, and did not look as aggressive as the male Shaelek. Though, it was rather difficult for another alien species to pull off the tough manner that Shaeleks portrayed. They weren't called the roughest alien species in the galaxy for nothing. The seven eyed alien wore some kind of suit and his head was covered with a glass helmet. Inside the helmet was a strange greenish-clear liquid which provided as the breathing apparatus for that alien. He was not a member of a species the Chief was really aware of, but she knew he was the other guy's companion as he too shoved another local out of the way harshly. Zellah turned her head in the direction of Gantu briefly again. The dumb idiot wasn't even aware of what was going on behind. Instead he was still wasting his time trying to interpret what a native was saying, in a language only his Galley Officer could understand.

The two guys were obviously causing a bit of commotion in the market place, many scowling and shifty glances headed in the direction of the pair as they pushed and shoved their way through recklessly. Zellah's body slowly shifted around as she tried her best not to be spotted by the pair as they pushed their way closer to where she stood. Neither of them noticed her or Gantu. As the male Shaelek stepped closer with his companion close at hand, the pair's voices got considerably clearer as they spoke normally. Luckily, Zellah was able to block out the other voices from the other aliens in the area and focus her attentions to the two particular voices which belonged to the conspicuous pair of aliens.

"Where is he? He said he'd meet us here," the male 7 eyed alien spoke out as he and the taller male Shaelek scoured the crowd behind them with the endless sea of wooden shacks and tiny aliens making about their business as if nothing was wrong.

"I don't know," the male Shaelek responded. Zellah turned her head around slightly and locked her eyes onto Gantu's waist once again. Her vibrant purple eyes examined his blaster curiously. But while her eyes were engaged with Gantu's blaster, her ears were still 100 percent focussed on the two aliens. "But Oxus and his guys have some explaining to do, when they get their sorry asses here with those damn weapons!"

She hadn't felt her eyes widen so far all day. No wonder she was so interested in the pair of conspicuous aliens present. Zellah knew there was something shifty about them, especially since one of them was the only Shaelek (besides Zellah and Gantu) present in the area. Now it was all made clear. These two scumbags were the ones due to rendezvous with the prisoner she had just put into hospital. But unfortunately for them, they had no idea that their associate was not going to show up. However, this was a big advantage for her and Gantu. They had just hit the jackpot. Now only if she could tell Gantu.

She had considered telling her new Captain. But as she gazed back at the male Shaelekean Captain, she shook her head as she noticed him and Reuben argue over the holopad as it began glitching out on them. Her attentions then shot back to the two criminals as their voices said something which rather alarmed them both as well as her.

"Shit, ain't that...?!" One of them broke out, not able to finish what he was saying. Zellah's head shot around again to see both criminals staring directly at her. The unknown 7 eyed alien was pointing in her direction while the male Shaelek's face dropped in both alarm and hatred.

"Zettar!" He scowled back. Zellah now turned back to Gantu. Neither him, nor his small friend even knew about what was going on behind them. At this point Zellah had only seconds to react. She had two options, either tell Gantu and risk jeopardizing everything, or option 2... improvise.

"What is she doing here?" The male alien leaned closer to the male Shaelek, his voice barely made out.

"I don't know," the male Shaelek responded, his eyes then darting to his belt as his hands rushed to grab the weapon inside his holster. "But I ain't waiting to find out!"

Chief Zellah Zettar finally took action. Just before the male pulled out his illegal blaster from his belt, her eyes locked themselves onto Gantu's blaster once more. She hadn't a weapon on hand, since the '_lovely'_ Captain told her not to bring her own weapon. She knew he'd be eating those words later on. However, this did not stop her from proceeding to snatch his weapon right out from under him and take matters into her own hands.

Suddenly without warning, the male Shaelekean criminal opened fire on the female law enforcer. He was roughly around 9 metres away from her and proceeded to take a single shot from his plasma blaster in her direction. And if it weren't for her quick thinking and acting skills, she would have taken the shot and probably got seriously injured from it. Zellah swiftly grabbed the plasma weapon from Gantu's holster, span around and shot a single blast back at the blast of green plasma heading her way. It did not miss its target. Soon, the whole market square erupted in a light spectrum of green and blue plasma colliding with one another. Many gasped and ran away quickly to avoid being a part of the crossfire. But that was not necessary. No more shots would be fired by either the criminal, or the police Chief. Instead, the pair of criminals were left rather aghast at the swift action taken by the female. It was like watching something out of an action movie. She had singlehandedly avoided a near death experience by directly shooting a plasma blast at close range. And it did not miss! Very few people could pull that off. Not unless they were experts in weaponry and shooting techniques. It was lucky that Chief Zellah Zettar was an expert in both of these areas. The criminals stood there, mouths open and eyes widened as they realised that their cover was now blown and they were most probably going to get their asses kicked by the aggressive female.

"SHITTING BLITZNAK!" The male Shaelek bellowed, stepping back slightly as the female's face turned into a very low and determined scowl. Neither of them realized that there was yet another Shaelek law enforcer behind her. Instead their eyes were glued onto Chief Zettar's.

"What do we do now Rocmour?!" The 7 eyed alien shot his head in the direction of his taller companion, his voice very on-edge and very panicky.

"RUN DAMMIT!" The male called out as he began sprinting in the opposite direction. His companion soon followed hastily and the pair began to flee the scene.

Meanwhile, Gantu was oblivious to what was going on. It all happened so quickly that he almost fell over from his balanced crouch he was positioned in. He had felt a slight tug on his belt one moment, then as he looked up, he noticed a haze of blue and purple spin around quickly, making his eyes lose focus for a brief second. But within that second, so much had happened. His eyes widened in a mixture of shock, astonishment, awe and a slight twinge of rage. While his head rapidly span about in the direction of his new partner and those who had just opened fire on her. He was quite taken aback to see another Shaelek standing but 9 metres away from him with another alien of a different species. And both of them were scowling and cowering in fear at the aggressive female. Gantu's eyes then followed Zellah. He hadn't known exactly what had happened, since his body was turned away from the commotion at the time. But, he figured what was about to go down. And it would be something he was dreading.

After a couple of seconds of Gantu's attentions being raised at the scene, a swift action was taken by the two criminals who stood before them. They did as one of them suggested. They ran! Not even bothering to open fire again. Instead, they shoved several other aliens out of the way and almost took out two market stalls as they abruptly turned the corner and fled the scene as fast as possible. Zellah of course was soon hot in pursuit. Gantu then felt a hand rush to his side and he felt his belt holster before looking down, his eyes almost popping out of his head as he did this.

"MY BLASTER!" He exclaimed, then arising from his knelt position. He outwardly grumbled and watched as Chief Zettar now turned the corner in pursuit of the two alien criminals. "Bloody Blitznak, she's dead when I catch her!" He spoke as he too now found himself sprinting in the direction where all of the commotion was headed. Reuben however, was still stood with the Meltrokian native they were talking to. He shrugged his shoulders in annoyance and watched as Gantu fled the scene.

"HEY!" He shouted "What am I supposed to do?!" He had no response of course. By that point, the criminals, Chief Zettar and Captain Gantu were all gone. All who remained was little Reuben and the Meltrokian native. Reuben had only seconds to respond. Should he stay with the Meltrokian and continue what he was doing? Or, should he follow his best friend and witness the action? Both were appealing options. To remain where he stood, meant that he wouldn't be gasping for air or trying to keep up with his bigger companions. Though, with the other option, there was the action and the great opportunity to witness it firsthand. He couldn't deny how impressed he was with Zellah Zettar. He was growing to like her more and more with each action she took. She certainly was more outgoing than Gantu ever was. This was obviously the reason he had grown jealous of her.

In the end, Reuben groaned and turned to the very confused Meltrokian native. He literally shoved his holopad into the bewildered alien and then spoke out in his normal language (which the Meltrokian could not understand) "excuse me." He then ran off, leaving the Galactic Federation's interrogating holopad in the hands of a very bewildered native.

Meanwhile, the pursuit was underway. The criminals were sprinting as fast as they could through the large market place, occasionally (and rather desperately) blasting their weapons behind them, in the direction of their pursuer. Throughout the entire time, Zellah remained hot on their tail. They had tried several times to create obstacles to slow her down. Whether that be knocking down barrels of cargo or literally throwing innocent civilians her way. She had somehow avoided everything they threw at her and continued chasing them, not slowing down for a second. Gantu on the other hand, struggled to keep up with the pursuit. Zellah had stolen his blaster and taken off on her own crusade to catch these guys. What happened to the term _'partnership'_? Did she even know what that meant? Gantu couldn't deny that he was rather furious about all of this. She could have told him what was going on, instead of running off to face it on her own. But, just like him, she was stubborn. She would refuse to be helped by anyone but herself. Something Gantu knew about himself all too well.

"She's gaining on us!" The seven eyed alien managed to say through gasps of breath. Both he and his Shaelekean companion turned their heads briefly to see Chief Zettar sprinting towards them, now a lot quicker than before. The male Shaelek gazed down at his weapon and then back onto the path before him. Several metres in front, there was a rather ruined stone wall, ill-treated due to vandalism and graffiti. The male Shaelek grinned. He had decided to use this wall to his advantage.

"She soon won't be!" He exclaimed, dragging his companion aside behind the wall. He then grasped his weapon and re-loaded it with a new clip before opening fire on the pursuing police Chief once more. Several green plasma blasts illuminated the area, the radioactive glow very evident from a nearby distance. They were shot in the direction of Zellah Zettar herself, but luckily, like her targets, she had also found a decent place for cover. Behind a market stall, one of the few to have a stone outer structure.

When she ducked for cover, Zellah had a near miss with a radioactive plasma blast. It skimmed her arm and almost left a mark. It was fortunate that she had such a quick reaction time, or else she would have succumbed to the blast and been severely injured as a result of it. Backed against the wall, her eyes found themselves on Gantu's blaster. Noticing how small and ill-equipped it was. Was this really the best the Galactic Armada had? She was sorely disappointed yet again by them. But her judgements were soon cut to a crash halt as she grabbed her newly adopted blaster tightly and peered over the stone structure to where her targets stood. She counted her seconds and made sure she sought the right opportunity. There was no way in hell that she was going to give this up for anyone. Right at the point where the male Shaelek stopped firing and went to turn around to re-load his plasma blaster, she took swift action. Two shots were fired, merely missing the two criminals by a near inch. But it proved in vain, Zellah had taken an opportunity and failed to take them down. But she did not let this dishearten her. She would have plenty of other opportunities to take them down.

Realizing that they were now out of options, the two criminals decided to abandon their safe position behind the wall and make, yet another, daring run for it through the busy east end of the city. Zellah kept herself firmly fixed to the stone structure for several moments, awaiting a re-shooting from the daring criminals, but nothing came out of it. When she dared to peel herself away from the stone and peer over the structure, she noticed them. They were now no longer behind that vandalized wall. Instead, they were now sprinting yet again round the next corner. She frowned and shook her head as she thrusted her body forward in order to chase after them once again.

Gantu was lost. He had ran as fast as his muscular legs could carry him, but that proved in vain. Never, in his whole career, had he experienced this. When put on missions with other Officers, during his times in the rank of Corporal, Lieutenant, Major and even Captain, he had always worked together with those people and used cooperation as a means to take down the bad guys. But now he was dealing with an entirely different subject. Chief Zellah Zettar was a nutcase. A complete and utter nutcase! He now saw why his friend had warned him so much against her. She had no concept of being a team player, nor did she have the right attitude to be his partner. Gantu certainly wasn't getting a better opinion of her. Actually, now he was seriously contemplating on the idea of putting forward a case, to have the Galactic Council dismiss her from his services. Never before had he been so disobeyed.

He stopped chasing the pursuit after a while and looked around rather alarmingly. One moment the criminals and his Chief were in view, the next they were not. It was as if they had disappeared out of sight entirely and vanished into thin air. And though he knew that to be impossible, he wouldn't be surprised, especially with the actions Zellah had put out there so far. One day in his services and already she was causing trouble!

_'Where in Blitznak has she gone off too?!'_ He mentally hollered, as his head swam all over the place to figure out where the pursuit was now headed. He couldn't see much. Just an endless view of small shacks and stalls and, of course, the destruction and remaining debris the criminals had made through their escape. Gantu smacked his hands onto the top of his head and his facial expression soon fell to a mixture of panic and fear. _'If she takes matters into her own hands and kills these guys, the Galactic Council will certainly throw the boot at me!'_

"Hey blubber butt?!" A very raspy yell suddenly caught his attention from down below. Gantu's panicky gaze shot down only to see a very tired Reuben finally catch up with him. As he slowed down, his legs almost gave way and he hobbled along like a little penguin did. And his chest sucked in and out rather unnaturally as he gasped for air. Several moments after trying to re-compose himself, Reuben spoke again, stammering as he wheezed. "W-W-Where is Z-Zellah?"

"I don't know," Gantu's head shot up and continued to scour around again. "I think... I think I lost her."

Reuben leant against his companion's large leg and keeled over, one hand touching the grey stump and the other bending down with the rest of his body. He took a moment to speak again, his voice still very raspy. "D-Don't, ever, make me... phew... do that again!"

Gantu swiftly bent down and laid his hand flat on the floor nearby his smaller companion. Reuben almost immediately stepped onto it and soon got hauled onto Gantu's shoulder once more. "Come," Gantu began, his head then turning in the direction which he guessed the pursuit was headed "let's go find her before she gets herself into any more trouble."

Meanwhile, a couple of streets away, Chief Zettar had chased the two criminally involved aliens to the docks on the edge of the city. They were now on a small platform, overlooking a sea of bubbling green acid, one of the many toxic waste dumping grounds on the planet. It was about the size of an Earth lake, but the stench was a lot more potent than anything you could imagine. The two criminals now knew that they were at a dead end. They had either two options; the easier option being surrendering to the police Chief, or the other, fighting against her. And what option do you think scum like them would go for? Of course it would be the more difficult option!

"Shit! What do we do now?!" The seven eyed alien panicked as he managed to slow down in enough time to avoid contact with the acidy substance beneath their feet. They were right close to the edge of the dock. They had nowhere to go. Before the male Shaelek could respond, the pair noticed Chief Zettar finally catch up with them. She soon halted and stepped forward cautiously as she held Gantu's stolen/borrowed blaster and pointed it in their general direction.

"You're surrounded Rocmour!" She shouted their way "I know you won't come quietly. You sort never do. But make one wrong move, and I will shoot you into that acid vat and watch your skin melt off of your bone structure."

"Bold words for a Galactic Alliance wench!" The male, known as Rocmour boldly claimed. Zellah's eyes squinted and an even lower scowl appeared on her face. She knew that most of her species were aware of her transfer from the Shaelekean police force to the Galactic Alliance. And it seemed, even those outside the planet were aware of it too. She knew this Shaelekean criminal. He had been one of her take-downs in a previous mission. And unlike Oxus, he was not flirty or sexist. In fact, he treated Chief Zettar like he would a male police Officer. And by that, he would try and fight her.

"Rocmour, what are you doing?" His seven eyed companion asked him rather alerted as the Shaelek began stepping forward. His companion merely turned his head in his direction and ushered him to follow him. Meanwhile, Zellah was still pointing her blaster at them. Like his companion, she wondered what he was doing when he began holding his hands in the air and stepped forward. He couldn't be... surrendering? Could he? If only things were that simple.

"Alright Chief," he called out, "we'll surrender to you."

She was not convinced. Not in the slightest. "Prove it," she demanded "place your weapons on the ground and put your hands on your heads."

Much to her surprise, they did as they were instructed. After doing this, Rocmour and his partner in crime stood before Chief Zettar, with their hands on their heads. The seven eyed alien was still rather confused as to what was going to happen next. They weren't possibly just going to give it all up like this, were they? Of course not! His Shaelekean friend still had another trick up his muscular arm.

Just as Zellah was about to call for her new security crew, she was briefly taken off guard. And this turned out to be a grave mistake. Suddenly, without warning, Rocmour stopped playing his little act and made his true intentions known to the female Shaelek. A single arm swiftly took itself off of his head, and his hand quickly formed a fist. Before Zellah could see it coming, she found herself punched in the face and thrown backwards by the force of the punch. Her head slammed onto the floor with such a force that it rendered her without clear vision for several moments. But just as the haze in her purple eyes began to clear, she saw his next tactic coming and avoided it.

The criminal Shaelek went to stomp his large grey foot onto her head, but unfortunately for him, he was a lot slower than before. Zellah did a side roll and avoided the collision of his foot with her face and she managed to spring up quicker than he had thrown his punch. She then proceeded to kick him in the stomach and cause him to keel over in pain.

"I knew you would do that!" She bellowed, kicking and then punching him in is muscular abs. "Just like I knew I would find you here."

"You're full of bullshit, you know that Zettar?" The male Shaelek dared smirk at this. Instead of responding with words, Chief Zettar did what she did best. She slammed him to the ground and then proceeded to press her foot on his face, just as he had attempted (and failed) to do to her moments before.

"You can thank your little buddy Oxus for our reunion," Zellah put pressure on his face with her foot, slowly burying him into the soft decaying ground beneath her feet. "He was the one who betrayed your little _happy fun club_!"

"Impossible," he managed to say through spitting out the contents of the floor which had somehow managed to enter his mouth. "Oxus is loyal to our cause!"

"Oh yeah," Zellah commented, sarcasm very evident in her tone, "so loyal that he spilled his guts to me after I broke his arm and almost snapped his back in two."

The male Shaelek's eyes locked onto his companion, who just stood there helplessly as he watched his friend being beaten to a pulp by the aggressive female law enforcer. "Do something you idiot!"

The seven eyed alien went rather jittery as his eyes locked onto the female who was twice his size and had easily took down his friend. He didn't have as much guts as his more muscular and taller companion had. And instead of helping him, he decided to run away before he ended up the same way as his friend (if not worse).

"Where's the loyalty?" Zellah mocked as the seven eyed alien fled the scene. She didn't bother to go after him, for she knew her priorities. She was currently handling a well-known criminal she had encountered before. And he was certainly more of a threat than compared to his smaller companion. The male Shaelek now looked rather shocked to see his friend just abandon him like that. But his shock would soon be filled with pain as his face was pushed further into the decaying sludgy surface by a large foot. Zellah took it upon herself to question him again. This time, her tone deadly and serious. "Now, to the matter at hand. Where is Glornack?"

"W-w-what are ya t-talking ab-about?" He managed to stammer, trying to spit out all of the sludge which passed his lips. She slammed his face further into the ground recklessly and spoke with a much harsher tone now.

"GLORNACK! WHERE IS HE?!" She bellowed, her fists pumped with fury "Oxus said he was going to rendezvous with Zellious Glornack, and you certainly couldn't fix all of this up on your own!"

He managed to push himself up slightly and his head turned left. Zellah did not follow his gaze, but she noticed him smirk. That was certainly something which made her more alert. "You're-You're right," he said rather defiantly "and Gl-Glornack has been looking forward to your re-reunion..."

"ZETTAR!"

A voice roared loudly about the area, louder than a pack of lions. Zellah's face suddenly dropped and her foot seized its tensions on Rocmour's face. And when she decided to slowly, but cautiously turn around, she was met with a sight she was hoping for. It was Zellious Glornack himself. Speak of the Devil! And pissed off was an understatement to describe him as.

Oh Zellah Zettar now had a real fight on her hands...

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><p>Authors note: Yes, this is officially the LONGEST chapter so far, but it had a lot to go through. I hope you all enjoyed this one. I intend to make my action sequences as thrilling and engaging as possible. If any of you have any pointers on how I can make this more interesting, please feel free to tell me your thoughts in a review. Thank you all for reading and these events will be continued in the next chapter.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9: A mutual disagreement

Chapter 9: A mutual disagreement

Authors note: Thank you once again to **Masume-Sama** and **Sharca** for reviewing my last chapter! You guys rock! And as for those three minor errors that you identified **Masume**, I will be sorting them out ASAP. Anyway guys, here is chapter 9. Hope you all enjoy!

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><p>"ZETTAR!"<p>

Zellah Zettar was stood, hanging over her defeated criminal foe, not moving an inch. Paralysis took over her body. She could not move. When the loud yell broke the already pensive atmosphere, she immediately released her grip, ever so slightly, on the pinned Shaelekean male. The police Chief cautiously turned her head, and what she saw was in fact what she had bargained for. There stood her new target. Big and bulging with rage. He stood there, his arms and legs held firm, like a pro wrestler would at the start of a wrestling match. His unnatural muscles were flexing in and out so much that you could see the bluish-pink blood flowing through his popping green veins. It was Zellious Glornack. The very same criminal scum that had not only tricked and escaped the justice of the Galactic Alliance, but also her own custody.

"Oh, you're in trouble now," a voice teased from below. Zellah's head swiftly turned in the direction of the voice and scowled down at the smirking Rocmour, who was trying his best to push against her force and pick himself up off of the sludgy surface.

"Shut up!" Was Zellah's only response, and after she said this, she used all of her remaining strength to push his head to the floor once again. However, this time, her foot did not merely shove him into the sludgy ground. Oh no! THIS TIME, it released itself as soon as it slammed the male's face into the floor. The force was that excessive, that it soon rendered the criminal unconscious. Zellah's face soon arose and locked itself onto the deadly raging alien who was roughly her size in height (not weight). Her facial features slowly adjusted themselves to a very low and direct scowl.

"At last, we meet again," Zellah found a stray hand fall on the side of her belt's holster and her eyes widened for a brief moment. No weapon? Oh, wait, she had briefly forgotten that the _'gracious' _Captain Gantu had instructed her to leave her weapon on the small police shuttle, where their security crew were currently also situated. She had also, somehow, dropped the weapon she had deprived from Gantu whilst she had engaged in the conflict with Rocmour. So now, she was unarmed and only had her bodily strength to compliment her. And with Zellious Glornack standing before her, ready to fight, she would have a really serious challenge on her hands.

"Looking for this?" He questioned her almost mockingly. His tone a lot less hostile than before. Zellah's head shot up from her belt and surprise took her. There he was, standing before her, holding the yellow and red weapon. Gantu's blaster. He let it swing between his bulging fingers teasingly for a moment before he threw it at least 15 metres away. He did not throw it hard, just far enough to get it out of view. He could have thrown it into the bubbling lake of acid, but, much to Zellah's surprise and bewilderment, he chose not to. "No weapons!" He spoke again, his hostile tone returning once more with a pumped up mighty roar mixed in. "FACE ME, SHAELEK WENCH!"

"I thought you'd never ask," Chief Zettar clicked her fingers against each other rather eagerly and took to her own stance. She was preparing to take down Zellious Glornack himself, the old fashioned way. Hand-to-hand combat. Her speciality. "Let's go!"

Meanwhile, Gantu and Reuben were still rushing around the busy city in search of their missing crew member as well as the criminals she had darted off to pursue. They had headed in the direction Gantu had 'assumed' to be correct, though he himself was not entirely sure where he was going, nor where his new Chief of security had disappeared off to.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Reuben had seen it fit to enquire as he adjusted his position on his friend's shoulder. Gantu, the stubborn Shaelek that he was, refused to admit he did not.

"Why must you have so little faith in me, Reuben? He avoided Reuben's question by adding in his own. A good and successful tactic which (obviously would) put Reuben off guard and force him to change the subject.

"Oh, I don't know," he replied, his tone layered with both mischief and sarcasm. "Probably because all of your decisions today have gotten us nowhere," He then continued to speak, much to Gantu's annoyance, but for a change he wasn't insulting his best friend. Actually, he was complimenting someone else! The same someone of whom Gantu was growing to detest. "Zellah had the right idea. She obviously knows what she is doing!" Reuben then said something which would strike a nerve at the centre of Gantu's pride. "I just wish I had gone with her, instead of being stuck here in the middle of a rundown city, with you."

"Then maybe you should have!" Gantu bellowed rather dramatically as he stopped dead and pinched the tiny genetic mutation's shoulders tightly, dragging him rather harshly off of his own shoulder. "Since you clearly have a likeness for this new Chief."

Reuben tried to fight his tight grip, but Gantu was surprisingly fierce. He had seen a strange fire in his bright blue eyes which he had never noticed before in his life. Reuben's tight black eyes soon met with Gantu's fierce ones, and when he spoke, his tone sounded completely honest and truthful. "Well yeah, at least she isn't pretending to be something she is not!"

Gantu was left rather speechless at this. He usually was when Reuben said something which was actually true. Gantu did not wish to admit he was pretending to be better than Zellah, because he was too stubborn and hard-headed to do so. But deep down, he knew what his little friend was saying, was in fact true. At this point, he felt inferior to her. So much so, that he was doing everything in his power to make himself look bigger than he actually was. He had briefly seen Zellah Zettar's past professional record the night before, and it was, dare he say, absolutely flawless. She had perfect missions, skills, allies and professional traits and qualities which he himself did not posses. Who was he kidding! Reuben was right. His washed up career was all based on redeeming himself for his past failures. He still wondered what the Grand Councilwoman ever saw in him when she first accepted him into the Galactic Armada. He couldn't even take down a little Hawaiian Earth girl and her pet trog without getting beaten! And this made him feel even more miserable than before.

Just before Gantu could even think of a good response to retort back to his argumentative companion, something took away both of their attention spans and turned them onto something else more pressing. A loud cry suddenly pierced their surroundings. Gantu's head swiftly shot down as he and Reuben witnessed a peculiar looking alien rushing past them at an alarming pace. The alien almost gasped when he noticed Gantu standing there, and Gantu too let out a small surprised moan. That alien was the same one who Zellah was pursuing moments before... wasn't it? He hadn't gotten a good glimpse of either of the two criminals, since the events before the pursuit had happened so quickly, but he could tell what a Shaelek and a Olopian looked like when he saw them. And this very same seven eyed alien matched his photogenic memory of that previous convict perfectly.

"Sh-Shiiiiiiiii-!" The alien came to a crashing halt when he saw Gantu standing before him. All seven of his beady little eyes darted up at him through his life supporting helmet. And upon seeing Gantu, he almost looked like he had peed himself. "Not another one!"

Gantu immediately placed Reuben on his shoulder and towered over the smaller alien, half his height, menacingly. Both of his hands placed themselves firmly on his hips, just above his belt and his light blue eyes squinted quite a bit. The poor Olopian alien didn't know what to do. He had obviously managed to somehow escape Chief Zettar's custody, and had now found himself face to face with yet another Shaelekean law enforcer. This surely was not his day. The seven eyed alien began to back away slowly and tried his best to think of an escape route away from Gantu. However, Gantu was much taller than him, meaning that it was more difficult to see anything beyond the taller male standing before him. He desperately scoured behind him as he began walking backwards, not noticing Gantu finally stepping forward in pursuit.

"Look," Gantu began as his huge legs lunged forward one after the other. The Olopian alien's head suddenly shot back at Gantu and his head almost did a dance in the greenish liquid inside his life support suit. "We've all had a busy day, and my patience is wearing thin. Do as I say, and I won't beat the crap out of you."

"L-l-look," the Olopian alien stammered, still walking backwards "y-your girlfriend just took down my boss! I-I am innocent! I was f-forced to work for him!"

Gantu grumbled at the mere mention of the word _'girlfriend'_. But he knew all too well who this guy meant. His apparent _'boss'_ was that other male Shaelek, and he had _'apparently'_ been taken down by Chief Zellah Zettar, aka his _apparent 'girlfriend'_. Gantu was beginning to see the pattern here. He continued to step forward, now picking up the pace and gaining on the poor criminal alien. The Olopian almost tripped over a rock, as he was not watching where he was going. Instead, his petrified eyes were fixed on Gantu, and Gantu alone. Suddenly, the poor seven eyed alien let out a little cry as Gantu grabbed his white and grey suit by the collar area and held him several feet off of the ground. The Captain scowled and moved his mouth to speak to the unfortunate criminal, who was now eye level with him.

"Where is Chief Zettar and your _boss_?" He questioned, his tone very low and impatient. On his shoulder, Reuben tugged Gantu's tusk in an attempt to try and persuade him to go easy on the criminal, but Gantu would not budge. He had finally figured it out. The best way to get information out of a criminal was by fear and torture. Was this something he was beginning to pick up from his new partner?

The seven eyed alien lifted a shaky arm and pointed it in the direction from where he had just come from. Gantu's eyes followed his arm and he grumbled as he saw nothing but an empty street before him. Before he could respond, yet another sound echoed in their surroundings. It sounded rather close. A few streets away as a matter of fact. Gantu's eyes swiftly shifted from the empty street, to the hazy dusty brownish sky then back to the criminal who was clutched tightly in his hands. The criminal stammered slightly as he spoke out once again.

"Y-You don't wanna go near her," he managed to say, his head then turning towards Reuben "she's crazy!"

"I'll be the judge of that," Gantu replied, a hint of confidence evident in his tone. He then proceeded to place the criminal back down on the floor, but kept one of his large hands bound to his suited wrists as he searched his belt for a wrist binder. "You're coming with us," he told him as he pulled the two gloved hands of the Olopian male before him in order to bind them together with the advanced alien handcuffs. "And if you try anything on... well, let's just say you won't shape up too well."

As soon as he had the convict in his own custody, Gantu rudely shoved him forward in front of him. The seven eyed alien gave him a small scowl before proceeding to lead the pair of Intergalactic law enforcers in the direction from where he had just came. The walk did not take too long. They had only made their way through three, grimy and vile, streets before the Olopian male suddenly halted as the sounds of physical exertion and pain became very clear. Gantu's brow arose and he shoved the poor criminal to the ground and bound him by his legs, preventing his escape. After he had done this, he turned the corner behind a large brown building and placed his hands on the stone outer structure. He and Reuben leant up against the structure and slowly took it upon themselves to peer over it. And when they did this, surprise and amazement took to their features almost instantly.

"FACE ME, SHAELEK WENCH!"

Gantu couldn't believe his eyes. There before him, was his new partner, Chief Zellah Zettar, in a war-like stance as she prepared to take down her adversary. He briefly took his time to take in his surroundings. Behind the commotion was a rather large lake, bubbling with green and yellow noxious acid fumes and bubbles. No wonder the stench became rather unbearable as he had gotten closer to the scene. His eyes then followed the floor, just above the level of the vast sea of toxic waste. There, lying on the ground, head practically a metre deep in the sludgy surface, was another male Shaelek. The very same one who Gantu had briefly seen take off, before his partner took it upon herself to pursue him. The poor sucker was pretty lifeless and broken down to a pulp. He certainly was unconscious from what he had gathered, just by looking at him. Gantu's eyes then shot up in the direction of his new partner, and alarm bells rang in the back of his mind. What in Blitznak was she doing?! She wasn't planning on taking on Zellious Glornack alone was she?! It appeared so. How the hell was this going to go down? Not even he could take him down! And he had a crew of many security Officers to back him up. Yet, look how that all turned out. She would be eating the floor like that poor Shaelekean scum soon enough. Zellious Glornack certainly was a tough guy. And Gantu figured that if he couldn't take him down, no one else could.

"I thought you'd never ask... let's go!"

She was smirking! She was actually smirking! Gantu's mind had never been so blown out of the atmosphere in his life. He knew his species liked to fight. He himself never took down a challenge unless he knew the odds were entirely against him (like now for instance), but it seemed that Chief Zettar was crossing the line. Was this all a game to her? Did she seriously think she could take on a guy almost three times her size in muscle mass and win? That guy in the interrogation was one thing. He was too warped in his sexual fantasies to pose a real threat to anyone. But with Zellious Glornack, that was not the case. Upon his original arrest on Yuluh, Gantu and his 20 security Officers were all made aware of how dangerous this criminal was. It took the combined power of 22 Grade 'C' plasma blasters to render him unconscious. So in this case, weapons were useless. They had only one blaster between them, and that blaster's location was unknown to him at this present moment, due to Zellah depriving it from his possession. Gantu mentally screamed at himself. Not for standing there like a simpleton and not doing a thing to help her, but rather for thinking he was able to trust her. Yet again, he had let his personal opinions get in the way of his professional judgement. He certainly needed to improve on that. But what Rozcor had warned him of was now coming back to haunt him. And Blitznak, was he paying for it now.

His thoughts were suddenly intervened when the steroid-pumped alien thug made his move. He let out what sounded like a deep roar before charging forward to tackle the female Shaelekean law enforcer. Her expression was low and deadly, and she avoided the tackle with ease. She soon returned his tackle and punched him several times in the stomach, forcing him to fly backwards slightly. He paused for a brief moment and cracked his neck from side to side tauntingly as he began to circle her, cautiously plotting his next move.

"You've got balls, for even showing your face here, Zettar!" He growled harshly, cracking his knuckles as he flexed them repeatedly "but it will be your undoing!"

"Pffffft, don't make me laugh, Glornack. Your partners are all but gone or taken down, and you're all out of options but to surrender to me!" Zellah taunted, not even trying to restrain her laughter. She too now began to circle him slyly. Meanwhile Gantu couldn't help but just stand there and watch the whole thing before him. _'Is she begging for a death wish?'_ He mentally questioned himself. _'Because that is what she is gonna get if she doesn't back down right now!'_

"I'll burn in the fiery blasts of the Belthesur Quasar before I surrender to a Shaelekean wench!" He spat, his tone very defiant to her confident response. She merely shrugged and a small smirk reappeared briefly on her features.

"I figured as much," she then clenched a fist together tightly "suit yourself."

She suddenly, without warning, lunged forward and punched and kicked her foe with as much force as she could physically muster. Glornack took it as if it were in his nature. Something unfortunate for Zellah. Gantu of course, was not surprised at this in the slightest. He had encountered this guy twice before, and he could take a beating like a strong metallic, and laser-proof, space ship could. He didn't know whether to feel sorry for the poor female or inwardly cheer that he had in fact turned out to be right. He couldn't deny that he felt rather smug about all of this. It would certainly teach her to defy his commands the way she did. Perhaps this would be a wakeup call. Don't mess with the Captain of the Galactic Alliance, or else you suffer the consequences!

Reuben had noticed Gantu's smug reaction to this whole affair, and he was somewhat disgusted with it. Gantu merely stood there while his new partner was trying to take on a guy three times her strength singlehandedly. Reuben shook his head and a small frown appeared on his yellow features. He took it upon himself to tug Gantu's tusk again, this time actually gaining his attention.

"Aren't you gonna do something?" He asked his taller companion rather expectantly. Gantu merely smirked and shook his head as he crossed his arms and turned back to survey the scene before him.

"No Reuben," he merely noted, chuckling ever so slightly. "It's time our new Chief of security learned the error of her ways. She thinks she can take him on by herself. I say, let her do it!"

And she would do just that. The punching and kicking would only be the beginning of what was yet to come. Though Glornack's reaction time was surprisingly quick. With another extension of her fist, Zellah suddenly felt Glornack grasp onto it tightly. Her purple eyes suddenly widened in alarm as she tried to pull away from his tight grip. He grinned mischievously as he held his green scaly hand tightly against her smooth grey fist. He took in his victorious apparel for several moments before completing his next course of action. Suddenly he made his move in the form of elbowing her in the face with his free arm, before punching her directly in the face twice with the exact same fist that belonged to his free arm. The first punch was aimed in between her eyes, and she felt it, but nothing drastic happened. With the next punch however, it was a completely different story. His force was that excessive with the second punch, that Zellah was literally force-shoved onto the floor. Her uniform was now covered in grime and sludge from the surface she had just made contact with. It took her several moments to regain her posture and shoot up at an excessive rate. She too now cracked her neck from side to side and a small but angry groan escaped her lips. Her teeth clenched together as she prepared herself to try and take him down yet again, this time, she had a lot more motivation to do so. For when you angered this particular female Shaelek, you would inevitably pay the consequences in full.

"You hit like a girl," she mocked him, her tone riddled with sarcasm and a hint of pain. Obviously it hurt. Actually, his punches hurt a lot! But she was not willing to admit that, especially in front of her foe. Nor would she like to admit it in front of Gantu, but since she was not aware of his current presence, that particular thought had never crossed her mind.

She now charged, side first, into her aggressor, slamming her body up against his with a huge amount of force. He stammered back slightly, obviously taking the shock of the force in small doses. Zellah then punched her way through Glornack's ripped brown shirt and continuously hit him, this time leaving marks with the power of her fist. He now struggled to gain his strength to fight back. Unlike before, Zellah had merely taunted him with small punches which he could barely feel, but now she was hitting him so hard, he could actually feel the numbness of pain as her fist slammed into his puffy and scaly skin. Zellious Glornack shook his head momentarily as she stopped punching him for a mere split second. Unfortunately for him, he now felt pain all over his chest and abdomen area. It was excruciating! He was surprised how hard that female could actually pack a punch. But he had encountered her before, so he knew this all too well. He keeled over in pain and a low whine escaped his lips as a single hand caressed his stomach lining through his torn shirt. Though, while he did this, he did not see her next move. Glornack did not notice the swinging foot raising in the air to make contact with his face, but he sure as hell felt it! Zellah used her large foot to literally drop kick him to the ground with a single foot slam. Now that was something which hurt him a lot more than being punched in the stomach. His face collided with the ground, just as his friend Rocmour had moments ago. He had actually noticed a slight blur, representing an unconscious Shaelek lying only a few metres next to him. Glornack grumbled and caressed his face with a single hand. But Zellah was not finished with him yet. Oh no. She was just getting started.

"Giving up yet?" Zellah towered over his body and grabbed the back of his head before force-slamming it into the ground once again. Today seemed like a 'shove people's heads into the ground' kind of day for her, since she was doing it rather a lot.

Glornack did not respond in words. He took moments to regain his vision after having his face covered in filthy grime and sludge. He grunted as he wiped his face down with his hand and two of his 4 eyes gazed up, rather venomously, in Zellah's direction. She smirked at him in dominance. Determination practically glowing in her features. Did she actually think herself superior to him? If so, he would have to change that. Rather than replying to her in words, he did what he did best. Displaying his message through physical force. Zellah was about to get a taste of her own medicine through the element of surprise. Before she could react, Glornack tightly clenched his hand into a fist and whacked his arm right into Zellah's leg. The force was that strong and excessive that Zellah actually lost her balance and fell backwards onto the floor. Glornack took this opportunity to get up and perform a counter attack on her. However, Zellah had a quick reaction time too. She swiftly got up not long after being forced to the ground and this time, she held her arms out and began to tackle the brutish alien by pushing against him.

"You should have stayed on Shaelekar!" He growled, starting to feel her force push him backwards. He tried with all of his might to meet her strength and exceed it, but for some reason, he could not match it. But, he would refuse defeat. Especially to the likes of her.

"Now, where's the fun in that?" She smirked, then ramming her face into his own to put him off his guard. Yet again, he stammered backwards, now clenching his nose as it began to bleed. Zellah's attentions soon fell upon the area behind her assailant. He was inching closer and closer to the acid pit on the edge of the port. A small determined glow then began to emerge in her vibrant purple eyes and a smug smirk appeared on her features. She now had a plan, and it would prove to be an advantage for her.

"BITCH, I WILL KILL YOU!" He snapped his arms now flailing forward full in rage as the bluish-pink liquid, representing his blood, spewed out of his nose at an alarming rate. Zellah's reaction time, yet again, proved to be her strong point. She grabbed his bulky muscular arm before it could collide with her face. And with this, she merely used her free hand to wave a finger scolding, yet mockingly, in front of his eyes.

"Tut, tut, tut," she smirked, shaking her head slightly "I think it's time to teach you some manners."

Swiftly using the same free arm, she clenched her three fingers into a single fist and punched him in the face before proceeding to use the same arm to elbow him in the eyes. When she did this, she immediately let go of his other arm and watched as he lost his balance and fell to his apparent _'demise'_ in the pool of toxic waste. He yelled as he fell in, a huge splash soon followed. As the bubbling acid began to settle, he struggled to keep his head on the surface. Everyone present was now watching as he was drowning to his _'death'_ in a pool of corrosive acid which was probably burning him alive.

Gantu was now, literally, at a loss for words. As was Reuben. Had they both just witnessed her kill a guy in cold blood?! There was no way in hell anyone could survive falling into a pool of corrosive and toxic acid! She was officially off the top of her head! Gantu couldn't even begin to comprehend what had just happened. He knew she was capable of hurting people, A LOT. Heck, Rozcor told him that she had even put a guy into a coma. But never before had he even contemplated the idea of her committing cold blooded murder! How the fuck was he going to explain this to the Galactic Council?! _"Oh, sorry about this, but Chief Zellah Zettar, you know, the female you __**insisted**__ I have as a partner, just killed Zellious Glornack in cold blood. Hope you don't mind..." _Yeah... it would not go down well at all. Actually, no, it would go down worse than anything in this history of his whole career! To even be associated with someone like this female Shaelek brought a sickening feeling to Gantu's stomach. How dare she even consider herself a decent alien life form! She was no better than the criminals they were trying to take down!

Gantu's mental rage was certainly short lived, when he decided to take swift and immediate action and ask his new partner what the hell she thought she was doing. Zellah seemed surprisingly cool about all of it. She merely brushed her hands together and smirked as she watched the bubbles in the acid become less and less frequent. Gantu literally went to storm out from behind the wall structure and give her a piece of his mind. At least, that was what would have happened if not for a sudden turn of events.

Gantu stopped and peered down unexpectedly as he accidentally kicked something with his foot. His eyes widened slightly as he noticed his blaster lying discarded on the floor next to him. He immediately bent down to pick it up before Zellah could get her dirty fingers on it once again. As he knelt down to retrieve his blaster, Gantu paused and looked up in the direction of the lake of acid. He heard what sounded to be like... bubbles? His eyes squinted slightly as he focussed his peripheral vision on the particular area where Zellious Glornack had fallen in, not moments before. He was not just hearing things! There was in fact bubbles coming out of the acid. Ever quickening in rate and volume. Gantu slowly arose and then focussed his eyes on Zellah, she was expectantly awaiting for something to happen. A sudden strange thought then appeared in the space Captain's mind. What if she knew that the corrosive acid would not kill Glornack, rather just slow him down? Sure, the laws of science would usually defy any such question, since practically most creatures in the cosmos were vulnerable to strong acids and noxious chemicals. However, Glornack had been taking steroids which had mutated his body into some freak of nature, which had also strengthened his scaly skin. So, what if Zellah knew that he could survive such a harsh environment? Gantu did not have to wait long to have his answer. He stepped back slightly as the bubbles began to rapidly increase before a figure then emerged from the pool of toxic waste.

"GARRRRRRRRRRRRH!" A mighty roar echoed throughout the area. Gantu's eyes widened in horror as he saw Zellious Glornack emerge, rather unscathed, from the acid as he let out a humungous roar of rage and hatred. Zellah stepped back almost instantly and prepared herself once again to fight him. However, in no ways possible could she prepare herself for what was about to happen. Zellious Glornack had somehow survived something very few creatures could, but this did not mean he couldn't feel the acid begin to corrode with his hard plated skin. As soon as he found himself standing, unharmed, in the pool of green bubbling acid, his eyes immediately locked onto Zellah. He stormed out of the toxic waste pit quicker than he had entered it, and he instantly went straight for Zellah. She tried her best to take the impact of the force. However, he was now stronger than ever and took her down with ease. Now crouched on top of her, trying his best to punch her to death, Zellious Glornack's deathly scowl now turned to a deadly and twisted smirk. Zellah pushed against him, the occasional struggling groan escaping her lips. Her eyes widened as she almost had close encounters with the stray droplets of acid which fell from the face of her adversary to the ground next to her. Chief Zettar's face briefly turned to the side as she noticed a single droplet of acid run off the side of a single armoured scaly skin plate and fall to the ground, inches away from her curved right tusk. It literally burnt itself into the surface it touched. Zellah couldn't help but mentally scream at this. That piece of ground could have been her! And to be burnt to death by acid was not a way she planned on going.

For the first time throughout this entire fight, Chief Zellah Zettar now had no plan of action. She was left to her own defences but could not move at all! Instead, she was at the hands of a psychotic thug who she had just majorly pissed off by pushing him into a lake of corrosive and deadly acid. She knew it wouldn't hurt him, but she could never imagine that it would actually make him stronger!

Meanwhile, Gantu noticed her struggles. She looked, dare he say, rather helpless as she tried, but failed, to push the large brute off of her. He continuously punched her face and shoved the back of her head into the sludgy surface as she grunted and made sounds of a struggle. This was the point where Gantu knew he would be needed. Chief Zellah Zettar had played her part in this, and now she was useless. Only a miracle would save her from being beaten to death, and it looked like Gantu was that miracle.

The Galactic space Captain soon found himself gazing at his weapon he had just been reunited with. Making sure that it was not tampered with in any way by his new partner and that it still had enough plasma left in it to shoot. Gantu's head then turned back to where Zellah and Glornack were situated. He placed his arms in front of him and clutched his weapon with both hands as he prepared to fire. He knew shooting at Zellious Glornack would prove to be pointless. Especially since his weapon was nowhere near as powerful as the ones the criminals possessed. However, if he could catch the brute off guard for a moment, then perhaps he and Zellah would stand a good chance at taking him down for good!

A single plasma blast shot out of Gantu's blaster and collided with the back of Zellious Glornack's neck. He immediately stopped what he was doing and his head slowly turned around to face the person who had dared interrupt his takedown. His four eyes then formed into a deathly glare and his tensions on Zellah seized ever-so-slightly. "YOU!" He bellowed in the direction of Gantu. Obviously instantly recognizing him from their recent encounter. Gantu stood there, still pointing his blaster at the deadly convict not moving a muscle. He too was scowling, but he wasn't just scowling because of Glornack. Oh no. He had many things to scowl about now, thanks to his new partner.

Zellah took the opportunity Gantu had given her and swiftly released herself from Glornack's tight grip. The brutish criminal now had a slower reaction time, which proved in vain for him. Now, he found his head being grasped onto by the female Shaelekean law enforcer and soon found himself being shoved, face first (yet again) into the ground. This time however, he found himself in the exact same situation as Rocmour did. He was knocked out! She slammed his face that hard that the blood from his nose squirted out and flew in the air briefly, like a water fountain, before it splattered on the ground in a small puddle. The poor brute was now lying right next to his partner in crime, both unconscious and spragged out lifelessly on the messy (and disturbed) surface. Zellah finally took her chance to pick herself fully off of the ground. She let out a huge sigh and shook her head as she inhaled a big breath of air and let her arms casually fall to their sides. She surveyed the area briefly. They had indeed made quite a mess of the ground amidst their struggle, but then again, who would care? They were on Meltrok for goodness sake! A planet where no one gave a damn about anything! Zellah then scowled once again as she looked down at Glornack and kicked the lifeless thug with quite a bit of force. He deserved that! She would remain scowling at him for several more moments before she would decide to then grab her communicator and finally make contact with her new crew. This mission was now officially over, and it was time for the arresting part of the job. Boy, oh boy, did she have a busy day just taking them guys down.

"Chief Zettar to security," she spoke professionally as she held the communicator close to her mouth "come in security."

Gantu meanwhile stood there, his mouth agape as he listened for the response from the security crew on the other end of the line. He was standing a couple of metres away from his new Chief of security. His mind was still trying to fathom out what had just happened. He didn't know how to think, feel, or react to it. Never before had he experienced a mission like this! And this was his first mission with her! What was going to happen next? Were they going to be taking on a group of 50 aliens with advanced high tech, not to mention radioactive, weapons? 50 to 2. A great number of odds! Not...

"This is the security crew on board the Red Star Battle Cruiser, receiving you loud and clear Chief Zettar. Over," the voice came through the receiving end rather clearly. Zellah smiled and gazed down at the two beaten convicts she had just successfully taken down, rather boldly.

"Convicts captured and taken down, contact the main ship and have an external transportation shuttle brought down here. We have a Shaelek and a Jurtheron down here, and our shuttle will not hold them both."

"Will do, Chief Zettar," the voice responded finally before pausing a moment. Zellah waited several seconds before the voice came through again. "An additional shuttle has been requested and will be with you momentarily. I am sending your coordinates now. We will meet you at your current location in five minutes."

"Right. Over and out," she finally replied before turning off her communicator to put it back in her pocket. Zellah surveyed her work once more, not even noticing a certain figure step forward to confront her.

"What, the hell, was **that**?!"

Her eyes shot up and instantly found themselves halting in the direction of her superior Officer. She took it upon herself to briefly study Gantu's facial features before responding to his, rather rough sounding, question. He looked mad. Actually, mad was one of the many words she could use to describe him. Gantu literally stormed up to her rather arrogantly, demanding her to answer his question. She inwardly scoffed at this. Who the fuck did he think he was? The Grand Council leader of the Galactic Empire?! Pfffft, he could hardly keep his own job in check! Yet, he acted like he was the toughest guy in the whole Galaxy. Darn it. She was right all along! He did in fact have an ego the size of the Whirlpool Galaxy! Zellah turned to face him and simply placed a hand on her hip and tilted her head slightly. She decided to play a little game with him, obviously wanting to toy with her new commanding Officer.

"You're welcome," she simply stated. Gantu's face suddenly dropped in both surprise and rage. Obviously her toying was working like a charm.

"You disobeyed my orders!" Gantu bellowed rather loudly, now looking Zellah right in the eyes. Their faces were inches apart. He looked very pissed off, while she took a more calm and collective approach to the whole situation. Meanwhile, on the ground below, Reuben stood in between the pair, his head shot straight up with his eyes locked in the direction of their faces. He knew that this was about to turn ugly, very quickly. Yet he noticed how Zellah acted around Gantu. She was one of the few who did not cower in fear at his temperamental side. Reuben also did not fear him, since he knew that Gantu was not capable of harming his best friend. Zellah however, was pushing his buttons to the limit. She was pushing buttons that Reuben didn't even know existed! Never before had Reuben seen Gantu this angry at another crew member, until now. This was their first mission and already he knew that Gantu and Zellah would be a _great _partnership (obviously in a sarcastic sense). He hoped that they would be able to cooperate enough to catch the bad guys together, providing that they wouldn't be at each other's throats of course. Just like they were at this present moment in time.

"It was a necessary manoeuvre, to assure the success of our mission," Zellah explained, her tone remaining calm and professional throughout. She crossed her arms and stared blankly at Gantu as he began to flail his arms about frantically.

"**YOU** almost cost us our mission!" Gantu scoured the area quickly and pointed down at the two convicts who she had just knocked out. "If it wasn't for you acting like a gung-ho vigilante, we could have arrested them without resorting to violence. But **no**, you had to run off and take things into your own hands!" He then glared directly into her purple eyes. She too was now starting to get rather frustrated with his ranting. "Just what in Blitznak were you thinking?!"

"I don't have to justify my actions to you!" She responded, her tone rather defiant. She turned her head away and a frustrated frown slowly made its way onto her features. Gantu stepped back slightly and now also crossed his arms. He grumbled and shook his head rapidly in fury.

"I am your commanding Officer!" He fumed, his arms now falling to his sides and his hands clenching tightly into fists. Reuben now began to become more on alert. He decided it was best that he stepped back from the pair of arguing Shaeleks. For if they were to start brawling, he would be inevitably caught in the crossfire.

"Wrong!" She now clenched her fists tightly. Before she continued, she turned back to him and looked him dead in the eyes. Her scowling becoming a lot more deadly. "I may be in your service, but I don't technically work for you! I work for the Shaelekar police force! I am Chief of security, and of a higher stature than most of the other Officers in both your Galactic Alliance, and half of the other planetary police forces in my quadrant. You, Captain Gantu, do not pose any authority over me! The only reason I am here is because it is official policy for a Chief of security to work in another Interplanetary police force for a temporary time before advancing to the rank of Chief Commander or Commander. And as it so happens, I came under the misfortune of working for the Galactic Federation!"

"That gives you no right to-!"

"It gives me every right!" She roared practically cutting him off in mid sentence. He had found her melting point. Her calm and collective nature was now long gone out of the window. Not only had she pushed him to the limits, but he too was now returning the favour.

Reuben jumped back, almost in horror, as Zellah and Gantu stood metres away shouting their heads off. He peered around to see if the rest of the security crew were nearby, he hoped to Blitznak they were! He did not like the way these two were arguing. He could have described them as an old 'married couple' but that really wouldn't fit the description at all. Not for the likes of the Shaelekean population! Unless this was how folk argued on that planet. And at this point in time, it wouldn't surprise him at all if they did. His hopeful eyes dropped when he noticed that he, Zellah, Gantu and the unconscious criminals were the only ones at the scene. Reuben debated on whether or not he should try and intervene in this battle between the two Shaelekeans. He pointed his arm up and opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He tried again... still nothing. For the third and final attempt he made at this, he finally spoke. His voice very weak and petty when compared to their bellowing.

"Ummm, guys?" He questioned. Both ignored him and continued to go about their ranting as if he did not exist. Reuben's hand drooped down and he merely shut his mouth quicker than he had opened it. He saw it pointless to try and pursue the matter further. Instead, he would let them war it out. At least it would be entertaining, right?

"I mean, let's face it!" Zellah continued, her tone now rather amused with a couple of chuckles arising in her throat from time to time. "It's because of your incompetence, that I am now a part of your crew!" Gantu's mouth widened and his eyes squinted even more. _"Because of your incompetence."_ She sounded just like Hämsterviel when she said that. "If you hadn't let Zellious Glornack escape from your custody in the first place, we wouldn't even be standing here! I would not have had to be dragged away from **my** job and brought down to **your **level," she now pointed her finger directly into Gantu's muscular chest. She prodded him several times as she emphasized her points to him. "**You**, Captain Gantu, are the one who's at fault here. Not I! I am doing my job the way I was trained to do it. I don't waste time, I do what is necessary, and I do it to a high level of expectancy. Meanwhile, **you** just stand aside and waste time and don't do your job with any credibility what-so-ever! Yet you wonder why you were ridiculed when you were retired from the Galactic Alliance? Please... This whole partnership is a farce! The Grand Council saw you too incompetent to do your job, so they brought someone in to keep you in check. And that would be me. So, to conclude on all of this. We were partnered up because **you **needed **me. Not** the other way around!"

Gantu held his breath for a moment. He almost lost his nerve when she spoke to him like that. How dare she! HOW DARE SHE! Was this what she really thought about him?! All of that talk on Shaelekar with her being pleasant, all just an act? It appeared so. He had to literally bite his tongue to make sure that he did not do anything rash or something he would later regret. If he were talking to a male Shaelek, he would probably be sucker-punched to the floor right now and shown some authority. But Gantu knew he was speaking to a female, therefore he had to respect her. Oh, he knew she could take it. Heck, she was more than willing to fight anyone who came into contact with her, as he had found out through the course of the day. But male Shaeleks NEVER touched a female with any physical violence. Unless they were the scumbags who tried to abuse or provoke them that is. But Gantu certainly did not put himself down to their level with that kind of riff-raff. They were all criminals who were usually locked up for doing it. There were laws on Shaelekar which made it illegal for the females to be touched or hurt by any male. Therefore, Gantu would have to hold back with the violence. But he could not help himself when it came to thinking about it. Never before had anyone of any species or gender spoken to him as she just did! Not even Hämsterviel! Though, he came the closest to matching her on that front. She had insulted him in every possible way. Not only did she think herself superior to him in authority, but she also thought him too incompetent to be Captain of the Galactic Alliance! All of his inward fears of not being good enough were now returning to him once more. She had struck more than one nerve within him. And he now felt even more threatened and intimidated by her.

"NOW SEE HERE!" Gantu now poked his finger forward, trying to retort back to her accusations. But unfortunately, her words had struck his inner core. Therefore he was in no position to fight back as much as she was willing to.

"NO! **YOU **SEE HERE!" She bellowed back, cutting his line of speech off again. Zellah then stormed away from him and marched her way over to the unconscious Zellious Glornack. She stopped and bent down to drag the criminal off of the floor and bring him closer to Gantu. Surprisingly, when considering how much he weighed, she could drag him with ease. She grasped onto the criminal's collar and dragged him over in the direction of her commanding Officer. Gantu watched her do this and then suddenly felt a huge amount of pain in his abdomen area. "HERE!" She literally shoved the body of Glornack into Gantu as she let him go and forced him into the Captain rudely. "Since you want to do things your way, take him! Do whatever you want with him! He, and the other bums are all yours, _'Captain'_." She then did a very rude and fake salute before she roughly shoved past Gantu and headed in the opposite direction. "I am out of here! I'll let you handle the arrests yourself. Since you think yourself capable of it. I'll be back at the ship!"

They watched her leave. Vibrations rattled through the surface as the fuming female stormed her way through the sludgy area to turn the corner and disappear from their sights. From below, Reuben's eyes were practically popping out of his skull. _'Wow!'_ He thought _'Just... wow!'_ Shock was an understatement to describe his current state of mind. Never before in his life had he watched someone verbally take down Gantu and strip away his self-confidence until he was left with nothing. Not even he could do that! Not that he wanted to of course. Reuben had limits with how far he pushed Gantu. He knew that if he went over the edge, Gantu would probably do something reckless. However, this did not stop Zellah. She spoke more than just her mind. She had such an attitude with regarding Gantu. What he had overheard between her and that Major Jaarl on the police port was only a tiny proportion of how she 'truly' felt about him. He mentally cringed at the very thought of how these two would work together in the near future. She was right! This partnership was a mistake. He knew that Gantu and Zellah would not get on at all. They were Shaeleks for goodness sake! The most stubborn and hard-headed species in the whole Galaxy! Neither of them would apologise for this. And through that, their appearances together would be forced and awkward. Yet all through this, Reuben could not bring himself to hate her like Gantu currently did. Yes, he knew that she had crossed the line with some of the stuff she said, but she was only speaking her mind. Gantu had pushed her to that. And for some strange, and rather unexplainable, reason... Reuben liked her for it.

Reuben's mouth opened wider than it did when he ate a whole stack of sandwiches. He did not say a word, but Gantu, as he usually did, immediately jumped on the overreacting bandwagon. He swiftly shot his head down to his smaller companion and his raging face glared a Supernova at his poor Galley Officer.

"DON'T YOU SAY A DAMN WORD!"

Reuben jumped back in terror and shrugged his shoulders profusely "I-I didn't say anything!" In response to this, Gantu merely pushed Zellious Glornack to the floor and began storming off himself. Reuben took off his hat and wiped his forehead as he let out a small gasp of breath. Gantu stormed off just like Zellah did, but instead of turning left like his Chief of security, he turned right. Reuben was now left rather confused as to what he should do, but he didn't ponder on this for long. Moments after Gantu had departed from the area hastily, several security crew members ran into the scene, uniform and headgear on and guns blazing. Then ran up to Reuben hastily before halting and surveying the area before them.

"Where is Chief Zettar and Captain Gantu?" One of them enquired as he and another guard behind him pressed the buttons to get rid of the visor on their helmets in order to show their faces. Reuben merely shook his head and placed his hat back on as he too began to walk away. He patted the questioning security Officer's leg casually as he let out a big sigh and decided it best to leave the scene and head back to the ship. Not necessarily to join Zellah, but to get away from the area and the stench of the toxic waste.

"You really don't wanna know," he commented as he left the scene slowly. The security Officers looked at each other in confusion but did not bother to make any further comments. Instead, they decided it best to get on with their arrests. The many lizard-like security crew began to bound Zellious Glornack and Rocmour and prepare them for transportation. None of them aware of the argument which had just taken place between their two superior Officers.

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><p>Authors note: Oooooooh snap! Don't get on her bad side, or you will end up like both Glornack and Gantu combined! Well guys, that's it! Their first argument. It can only get better from here right? For Reuben's sake, let's hope so! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I am really happy with how Gantu and Zellah's argument turned out. I've been wording it in my head for weeks and finally it turned out just as I had hoped! Please feel free to tell me your thoughts about this chapter in a review. Feedback is always appreciated. Thank you guys for taking the time to read this, and I will update very soon!<p> 


	10. Chapter 10: Stuck in the damn crossfire

Chapter 10: Stuck in the damn crossfire

Authors note: Hi again guys! Sorry for the long update (if you call two weeks long), I've just been rather busy and this chapter took me soooooo long to write! Just to clarify, since one of my reviewers thought this, the point of the last chapter was NOT to get anyone to side with Zellah because she's 'the new kickass female'. Nor was it my intention to get anyone to pick sides. Do as you will by all means, but that was not the message I was putting across. All of her actions are justified, as are Gantu's. And any questions you may have about the last chapter will, hopefully, be cleared up in this chapter. The conflict between Gantu and Zellah is intentional for these current events, but it will not be a very long thing. In a couple more chapters, everything will change... anyway! Hope you all enjoy this chapter!

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><p>The journey back to the ship was pretty unbearable. Reuben hadn't recalled anything so awkward and tense in his whole life. Well... there was that drunken brawl Gantu had almost gotten himself into that one time, when arresting a guy at a bar on the planet Rethsur, but that was totally irrelevant to their current situation. Gantu looked like he wanted to murder Zellah, and the feeling was mutual from her side, as well as it was his. Of course the security crew were still completely oblivious to what had actually happened down on Meltrok, but none of them saw it fit to enquire about it. Reuben felt like he was stuck in the middle of it all. Literally! He was sat between Gantu and Zellah on the ship, while the remaining security crew were all sat in the main cargo bay in the other area of the small craft. Many of the security Officers had volunteered to fly in the other ship with the two convicts Chief Zettar had taken down. So now, only a few were sat in the small red cruiser. The little Galley Officer couldn't deny that he felt so darn small sat between the two Shaeleks. Well who wouldn't, when you were 2 and a half foot tall compared to two 20 foot tall people? Poor Reuben crossed his tiny arms and gazed over to Gantu, the pilot of the ship. He was scowling and grasping onto the steering wheel extremely tightly with both hands. He then dared to gaze over in the direction of Zellah, her eyes were also squinted angrily. However, she crossed her arms and fixed her gaze out of the window, watching as they made their way out of the planet's dusty atmosphere. Throughout the entire time, Reuben kept his wits about him. They could suddenly brawl it out at any given moment. And he would be at the centre of it all. It did not give him comfort that he was indestructible, and could take it. For he would still feel the pain. And he for one, had no problem with either of them. It was their stubbornness which kept them mad at one another. That and the hatred.<p>

Reuben could tell that Zellah hated Gantu with a passion, but he could not fathom it out if Gantu hated her in return. Sure, she had probably offended him to the brink of him never wanting to see her again. But Reuben knew his friend. No matter how much anyone could hurt him, he could never truly hate them. Not unless they were criminals of course. But there was something in Gantu's eye and mannerisms which Reuben could not make clear at all. He saw it when they first met, and despite today's events, he still saw it now. Gantu would be lying if he said he hated Zellah, because, deep down, Reuben knew that he didn't. He looked more hurt by what she had said, than angry. And by all rights, he should be hurt! She had said many things which would have put all of those encouragements Reuben had given him, down the drain. But Reuben knew that he probably wouldn't have to comfort Gantu with all of this. The poor sucker would be too consumed with trying to be better than her. So much so, that he would start trying to compete with her. Here goes the constant gym hours and plasma battles in the training facilities! He had seen it all before, and it seemed that he was about to see it all again. Reuben certainly knew this would be what would happen between them. The competition for dominance was now on! This was the start of a new life.

Until Chief Zellah Zettar's contract with the Galactic Alliance was over, Captain Gantu would not quit until he showed himself superior to her. Or tried to in the very least.

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><p>And he was right! Gantu would be doing that very thing! Not long after returning to the ship, both Gantu and Zellah had suddenly disappeared and gone their separate ways. To start off with, Reuben decided it best to stay out of Gantu's way and let him vent it out on the wall structure or the machinery. At least that could be fixed. Another thing could be said for himself. He was perfectly fine in his normal shape and size. He did not need a large Shaelekean fist swung in his general direction to spread his body in all different and wonderful ways across the floor.<p>

He saw it best that he sat in the Galley and made sandwiches. The chefs were now off duty, and that Herigun alien chef he always argued with was not in sight. Therefore Reuben would not have any reasons to cause an argument himself. He had seen enough brawling today to last him a lifetime. As he thought about it more and more, he actually came to an astonishing conclusion. Zellah Zettar had swung her fists more in one fight, than Gantu had in a whole month. Gantu was too trigger happy. That was his problem. With every battle he had with any previous criminals, he always held his blaster like it was his trophy. Take that away and what was he left with? Oh, he was a fighter. Reuben could not deny that. But take his gun away and proceed to put him in the fighting ring with Chief Zettar and... Well… Reuben knew who he'd place his bets for. And it certainly wouldn't be Gantu.

"La, la, la. Baloney and butter, is better than clutter," he sang in a harmonically sort of tune as he used the last of his baloney slices to make another sandwich. He was all alone in the peaceful silence. All that could be heard was the air vent above his head. It sounded rather drone-like, but it did not affect him at all. Reuben continued to hum a small tune to himself as he placed his final made sandwich on the stack he had piled up on the counter. He smiled rather proudly, surveying his hard work. Reuben then proceeded to take a sandwich from the pile of his newly made creations and started to eat it casually. Then suddenly, without warning, he almost choked when a rather loud male voice broke through the speakers directly above his head.

"Attention all personnel," the voice spoke through the speakers, Reuben let out a small yell and jumped in surprise as the voice continued. "All crew members are to be cautioned **not** to go near the holding cells in the security bay on Deck C, unless authorized by either Captain Gantu or Chief Zettar. That is all."

"Jeez, Louise," Reuben muttered, slowly tearing his tiny yellow paws from his ears "I think we all knew that useless piece of information already." He then shook his head and looked up in the direction of the speaker. He lowly scowled and held a fist up as he whispered the words "idiot."

He sighed and placed the remaining stack of sandwiches on a large plate before stepping down off of the counter slowly. He balanced the plate in between his hands as he did this, taking extra caution not to fall over or cause his precious sandwiches to splatter everywhere. The last thing he wanted was for all of his hard work and precious (and also limited) Earth sandwich supplies to go to waste. Reuben held his breath as his first foot slowly touched the floor. It was soon followed carefully by the other. Upon stepping down, he let his breath go and smiled at averting any known disasters with his sandwiches. However, that was only the _one_ crisis averted. He was about to go face the fires of the star Sirius itself. He felt rather daring. So daring in fact, that he saw it time to try and talk to his best buddy. He hadn't seen Gantu for almost two hours and he figured that he would have calmed down, (even just) a little by now. Heck, there is only so much about all of that to rant about right? And he should have covered it by now… right? WRONG!

Reuben carried his large plate of sandwiches throughout the corridors of the BRB 11,000 decks. Of course, as previously cautioned, he avoided the security bay at all costs. The last thing he needed was to even think of provoking the criminals they had just captured. Though, he felt confident enough that they wouldn't have to re-live the crisis of Zellious Glornack's escape. Not with Zellah on board. Not even the armies of 10,000 Bolopian troopers could get through her. He hobbled along merrily, and occasionally said _'hi'_ to any passing crew members who returned his friendly gesture. He tried to be cheerful about all of this. One person had to be cheerful at least.

When he finally reached the corridor where Gantu's cabin was situated, Reuben suddenly slowed his pace and his ears went from up to down in a split second. He knew he'd have to be cautious with the way he approached his best friend. For he was not fully aware of his current mental state. As he stepped closer to Gantu's door, his eyes widened in surprise. He could hear voices. A male and a female to be precise. _'Oh Blitznak'_ he thought _'they aren't at it again are they?!'_ Reuben cautiously placed his plate on the cold metallic floorboards and slowly peered his head around his friend's door. It was open to its fullest capacity. He observed his surroundings carefully, making sure he was not visible. That was an advantage of being his size, he was hardly noticeable when it came to people Gantu's height. In the room, everything looked in place. _'Good' _he inwardly breathed relief _'that means they aren't throwing anything at each other'_. When his eyes fell onto the area where Gantu's bed was situated, he noticed his larger companion sitting there. He was sat at the end of his bed facing forward. Reuben followed Gantu's gaze. It was situated above a monitor screen hanging from the ceiling. The monitor was pretty much like a TV and computer built into one. You could watch many alien channels on there as well as access the Galactic Federation's database. Heck, even many of the Earth channels could be accessed on it, depending on the quadrants the ship was in of course. Any further than the Omak Nebula, and no Earth stations would be picked up. Reuben quickly locked his eyes around the room. No one else was in the room but Gantu. So this meant the voices he had heard were coming from the monitor. There were now no longer any male voices, just a single female. And from what Reuben could gather it sounded much like... a news reporter?

"Today marked the day of a shocking turn of events in the city of Shelthur this morning," the female spoke with a rather alerted but professional sounding tone on the monitor. Reuben positioned his head so he could see who it was that was speaking. His eyes widened when he saw (from a distance) a female Shaelekean, who looked nothing like Zellah, on the screen. She wore a bright and frilly dress and was heavily covered in makeup. Certainly nothing like Zellah. And what also gave it away, was the fact that she had the standard Shaelekean blue eyes with similarly curved tusks like Gantu's. Definitely nothing like Zellah! At the side of the female reporter, a picture of three different Shaeleks were displayed, all looking proud and respectable. The one was an older male, in a very smart and what looked to be, a high ranking uniform, while the other two were much younger. One of the two was a male, and the other was a female. Each of them dressed very respectably also. From what Reuben could gather by sight alone was that they almost looked like... his children perhaps?

The female continued to speak and Reuben listened in very carefully. "What started out as the yearly annual Shaelekean warrior parade in the capital city of Shaelekar this morning, almost ended in tragedy for the whole planet. Today, an assassination attempt on our very own Emperor, Emperor Egthor the Third, and his children, the Duke of Shelthur and the Princess of Termarth, was foiled by the Shaelekean police force this morning. It is believed that the failed assassinator was an extremist, working for the banished descendent of Nulmerok. He was immediately apprehended on site after being taken down by one of the Officers at the scene."

Reuben scratched his head in confusion at all of these strange names mentioned. Who the hell were all of these people? Obviously they were all people Gantu recognized, since they were from his home planet, but since his friend hadn't mentioned anything about the royal family on Shaelekar, he did not know anything about it. He briefly shifted his gaze to Gantu. He was scowling, as per usual. He was still sat at the edge of the bed, glaring up at the screen with his ever-squinting eyes. Reuben was still in confusion as to why Gantu was watching this report, but he would soon find out. For when he turned his head back to the monitor, Reuben almost let out a large yell of surprise. Though before he could do such a thing, he covered his mouth to prevent this from happening. His eyes almost popped out of his tiny skull when a picture of a familiar female appeared at the side of the reporter, replacing that of the royal Shaelekean family (as previously mentioned). Was that...? Could that be...? Zellah? The female looked slightly younger, but then again... everything else looked the same!

"The royal family have a certain Officer to thank for thwarting this severe and treasonous attack on the planet. Major Zellah Zettar. The first female Shaelekean to reach the rank of Lieutenant, and exceed it to Major. As shown in this video footage, captured by a local from within the crowd of on-looking civilians, the Major intervened in the deadly attack by grabbing the criminal's weapon before it could be fired on its target. That target being, the carriage in which the Emperor and his children were sat, waving at the crowds." The footage did show this very clearly. Reuben's mouth began to fall in awe as he saw what the reporter had just stated while the clip played. That female was Zellah! And she had just saved the Emperor and his family from being shot. She tackled the criminal down singlehandedly before binding him with wrist binders. After she did this, several other male Officers appeared on the scene, all armed and pointing their weapons directly at the attempted-assassinator. "It is thanks to Major Zettar's detective skills, that the Emperor is alive and well. It is also rumoured that Commander Turak and the Emperor are currently in talks for Major Zettar's promotion to Chief of security, since that role has been vacant since the retirement of Chief Upol last autumn. And though these are still rumours, the public have taken a very strong liking to Miss Zellah Zettar. Therefore, we can all agree that she stands a good chance at being Shaelekar's very first female Chief. As for the assassinator however, he will be awaiting trial. Though his sentence is looking quite grim. For all who commit treason on Shaelekar, must face the death penalty by law." The female reporter briefly looked very sincere before her direct stare turned into a bright and cheery smile within a split second. She then smiled directly at the camera in front of her and the pictures all began to disappear. "Back to you Curthu, with the weather."

The monitor quickly went blank and everything in the room went deathly silent. Reuben could briefly hear Gantu grumble very low and mutter something briefly under his breath. He still looked rather ticked off. And Reuben knew that this report would certainly make Gantu even more jealous of Zellah than he already was before. But... wow... he had never heard that before! Out of all the things that Commander Turak paraded around about Zellah back on Shaelekar, why did he never mention this? Thwarting an assassination attempt on planetary leaders, on any planet for that matter, was considered a HUGE honour! Surely that smug and self-conceited man would have had a whale of a time bragging about that! So why didn't he?

Reuben could not help himself. He tried to be quiet and slowly/cautiously make his presence known to his friend. But this could not be helped. His mind was completely blown by what he had just seen. And before he could stop himself, he accidentally did something which caught Gantu's undivided attention instantly.

"Whoa!"

Gantu immediately shot his head towards the door where Reuben was stood, mouth agape, still staring at the monitor. He grumbled again, this time a lot louder. Reuben then shot his eyes towards Gantu and quickly changed his shocked and awe-inspiring expression to a casual one. He then waved, smiling widely, much to Gantu's annoyance, as he made his presence known to him.

"Well," he began, trying to think of the right words to say. "It looks like she... had a blast in the past..." He then paused and gave himself a funny expression wondering what he had just said. "That report was dated 5 years ago wasn't it? I saw the time thing about the bottom of the screen and... Well, yeah." He continued to speak, his tone going rather awkward and quiet as he noticed his friend continue to grumble from the other end of the room. Gantu merely watched him from afar as the little experiment casually bent behind the doorframe and proceeded to carry his plate of sandwiches into the room. He stopped when he stood on the floor at the bottom of Gantu's bed and beamed up at the very unfriendly Captain. "Sandwich?"

"What do you want?" Gantu snapped harshly, using his hand to shove Reuben's sandwiches away rudely. Reuben placed his plate down again and simply sat on the floor and began to eat it casually. Too casually for Gantu's liking.

"I came to see how you were doing," Reuben explained, taking a bite out of a salami sandwich he had just made. "You ok?"

"Do I look like I'm ok?!" He stood up and stormed over to the other side of the room. Reuben did not follow, he just stepped back slightly and now remained more cautious. Obviously his presence was bothering Gantu. The Captain just stood, his hands now behind his back, staring out of the window into the depths of space. Reuben now dared to step forward and approach him, making sure that he kept his distance to some degree. If Gantu tried to kick or punch him, he would have a chance to react, if kept at a certain distance.

So..." Reuben scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. He opened his mouth to speak again, but no words came out. Instead, he looked like a simpleton just standing there trying to make the tense situation less tense. However, his presence was only increasing the tension around them.

"Fucking stupid arrogant bitch," he heard Gantu mutter from above. Reuben's head shot up to see Gantu's teeth tightly clenched together as his eyes remained fixed on a certain star cluster noticeable from the window.

"Come again?" Reuben coughed, not quite hearing Gantu's cursing from where he was situated. To him, it was just a slight murmur. But to Gantu, it was a quiet but deadly rage.

"Who in Blitznak does she think she is?!" Gantu swiftly turned away from the window and began pacing about the room rather sporadically. Reuben stayed put near the window and observed as Gantu was having yet another rant about his new Chief of security. "Seriously? Disobeying my orders like that! Never before have I seen such reckless and abrupt behaviour! How the hell did she even get promoted to the rank of Major? Let alone Chief! And the Grand Councilwoman thinks this female is my ideal partner? Well, she'll have another thing coming if she thinks I am working with that** thing** they call a female! I don't care if she's saved 20 royal family members on countless planets! Or if she saved the whole fucking universe for that matter! I am not putting up with that... that... THING any longer!"

Reuben leant himself against the window casually and smirked as he observed his friend pace about the room ranting to himself. It was obvious to him that he had been doing this for quite some time. This was probably the tenth time he had gone over these exact same points, just worded differently. It amused Reuben greatly to see him act like this. His jealousy was shining off of him brighter than a damn Supernova from 20 light-years away! He wondered if Zellah would be this cocky... nah, she had a side to her that would not keep bringing the subject up. She kept things short and to the point. Gantu however, needed to constantly assure himself that he was right. Therefore he repeated himself many times to make sure of this.

"I hear ya G," Reuben commented casually. Gantu stopped and turned to face Reuben who was now smirking to himself and gazing at his outstretched hand with ease. "She has quite a rep, does Zellah. But being jealous of her, does not make the fact that she is better than you, go away."

Gantu outwardly fumed and grabbed Reuben by the foot and dragged him 17 feet in the air, hanging upside down as Gantu snarled in his general direction. Reuben almost let out a yell but his astonishment got the better of him. "I AM NOT JEALOUS OF HER!" Gantu raged furiously "She's a stupid excuse for a member of my species! Her rash actions and past record has no impact on what I have achieved. I myself have a superb record! Nothing she does can surpass mine! And what makes everyone think she is so special anyway? She may be considered attractive by many, but I don't see anything like that in her!"

"Yeah," Reuben's face dropped and a smirk made its way onto his features once more. He extended a hand out and patted it against Gantu's face "keep telling yourself that."

Gantu pretty much threw Reuben across the room and he whacked his poor body off of the metallic wall. Reuben let out a loud cry and it took moments before he could recover from that. Gantu meanwhile just inwardly fumed and grabbed a stress relief ball he had placed on his bedside table. He squeezed it so hard, that the liquid inside the ball almost squirted out under the pressure of his fist. Gantu sat back down on the side of his bed and continuously squeezed the ball in his right hand tightly as he vented out his anger in such a way that Reuben almost had to laugh. And he would have, if it didn't hurt to.

"HEY!" Reuben marched across the room angrily rubbing his head with a hand while he held his small cap with the other "I was not designed to be thrown like that!"

"Just shut up for once, will you?!" Gantu shot his head over to Reuben before turning back to what he was doing.

"Fine, jeez!" Reuben yelled back then marching over to his plate of sandwiches before picking it up off of the floor. "I'm going to leave you alone, before you start shooting me with that blaster you apprehended today. I'd rather not have blue radioactive glowing marks on my nice clean uniform, thank you very much!"

"Just go away!" Gantu told him angrily, causing Reuben to frown.

Reuben quickly stormed out of the room carrying his plate of sandwiches as he went. "Fine! Perhaps Zellah will be better company than you! At least she isn't as much of a grump!"

"You go near her, and talk shit about me behind my back, and I will kill you!" Gantu retorted threateningly.

"Yeah, yeah," Reuben mocked him sarcastically as he walked, or should we say, stormed out of the room. Now finding it the perfect time to use an old phrase which used to be associated with Gantu by a certain little girl they were once enemies with. "Whatever... dummy head!"

Meanwhile Gantu just sat there on his bed and dropped his stress relief ball on the floor without a care. He was too angry to care about anything. Well, angry and rather... well, dare he say the word jealous? He thought about it long and hard, and the more he thought about it, the more he dreaded the very idea of it. Oh, to hell with it! Reuben was right again! Though, he did not care to admit it aloud. That report he had just watched only confirmed his fears. She had a superb record. Flawless, sublime, pristine... you name the fancy word, and it would surpass it! Gantu himself had a decent record, for a Captain of the Galactic Alliance that is. But what was his biggest achievement? Leading a rebel Armada on a hostile planet? Yeah, it would have surpassed Zellah's achievement if it wasn't for a very small thing... that rebel Armada lost. They lost the battle and the war! And not only that! Their chosen leader's head was put on public display when their enemy got too slice-happy and chopped it off! Oh, who was he kidding? She was right! He couldn't even keep his job in check without screwing something up. He thought he was doing the right thing. But his recent judgements had proved to be his weakness. And Chief Zettar was exploiting his weaknesses and ridiculing them by taking her own extreme actions. She was more of a fighter than he ever was. And she was a woman! This did not just make him look bad, but perhaps even the entire Shaelekean police force also. If there were more females like her, the male population would be overrun with aggressive females kicking their buttookies out of the atmosphere! But luckily enough for them, they only had to deal with one. Unfortunately for Gantu though, HE was the one stuck with her. But Gantu was determined to prove to her that he could handle it all. He was not going to let his inner demons torture him this time! Oh no! She wanted a war? Well, he was about to give her one, and then some!

A question plagued his mind further still. Why on the planet Turo, did he not fight back harder, during their little spat on Meltrok? Gantu certainly had the guts to do it, as well as the brawn. For he was twice Zellah's size in muscle mass and physique. Though, it was certainly clear to him that it was a very simple thing which made him unable to find a suitable reason to retaliate. His ego. He already knew that he couldn't fight back with physical strength, because it was against his species culture and laws to do such a thing to the opposite sex. However, he could have retaliated with words! So why didn't he? The truth was, Chief Zettar insulted him. Badly! She had struck a major nerve at the centre of his core no one, not even Hämsterviel, had touched. Actually, as he had recalled, the only person who ever touched that nerve was his... his father. He remembered his father well. Authoritarian, aggressive, without emotion, selfish, hard going... many things he was on Gantu, growing up. And the more Gantu thought of it, the more he realized. Zellah was a lot like him. All that mattered to her, it would seem, was her job. Rozcor had warned him about her overly-dedicated commitment, and he had seen it in full swing on their first mission. Gantu even wondered to himself _'does she even have feelings or emotions?'_ She was so cold hearted around everyone (especially him), that he even wondered if she had a soul within her. Sure, his species were known for their stern nature, but she had crossed the line with the way she behaved. And to think, the female Shaelekeans were meant to be more gentile and kinder than the males. Neither of which matched Zellah Zettar's description at all. Gantu knew he would have to change her ways if the Grand Council refused the case he would put forward to them to have her dismissed from his service. And that option seemed likely to fail, due to the complexity of this entire affair with this criminal gang. Zellah knew more than she was willing to say. Yet another thing she was _'perfect'_ at. But despite all of this, Gantu knew that deep down, Zellah would have a weakness for something. Everyone/everything in the universe has a weakness with something. Right? Captain Gantu was determined to find her weakness and exploit it, just as she had with his.

"I'll show him!" Gantu stood up and paced over to the window dramatically as he muttered to himself determinedly "I'll show her! No one messes with Gantu and gets away with it. Not even a female like her!" His eyes then softened, only slightly as he picked up his Galactic holopad which contained all of the known information of his existing crew members. Not personal information, just professional only. He then flipped it on and had the option to choose any crew member on board his ship via a picture of them in uniform. Gantu immediately selected the one at his far right corner on the top row, since it went via ranks. His finger only had to press down once and a picture of Zellah Zettar appeared on his holopad. She was neither smiling, nor scowling. Just stood upright, rather boldly, with her hands placed by her sides. Her purple eyes were staring directly at him. Gantu's lips pressed together as he studied the picture. She was very beautiful. No matter how mad he had gotten with her, he could never deny it! But his judgements on beauty were of little consequence, for her actions today had put him off of her for life. His softened features then turned into a small scowl again as he pressed his hand tightly on the holopad and raised it up closer to his face. "I will show you who has the authority, Chief Zettar!"

* * *

><p>Reuben carried his sandwich plate through corridor after corridor in search of Zellah, but she was nowhere to be seen. He had asked several crew members, including some of the security staff, but no one knew of her location. He even wondered if she was still on the ship. She could have easily taken a police cruiser and blasted off back to Shaelekar, if she was THAT desperate to get away from Gantu. Though he could hardly blame her if she was. Gantu was a very difficult guy to handle at times, as Reuben himself knew all too well. However, Reuben knew she hadn't exited the ship. Nothing was reported from the bridge. And if she had gone 'bye-bye'. Captain Gantu would be the first to know of it.<p>

He had chosen to make his way to the bridge. His friends there would be able to pin-point her location via the many cameras situated around the ship. He had lost count how many times he had to rely on the crew on the bridge to locate Gantu before now. Especially while he was busy in the gym. Reuben could never tell where Gantu would be. He was a very unpredictable character. Just like Zellah! Entering the bridge casually, Reuben tipped his hat to the Officers situated nearby the door after he placed his plate sandwiches out of sight. He had to do this, or else he would be accosted by many different alien crew members all asking for sandwiches, like they were at a restaurant and Reuben was the head chef. Reuben took off his hat and marched up towards Officer Hermi and Officer Armilia at the front of the ship. The pair of them were talking rather casually as they worked on a computer together. Reuben grinned and shouted towards the pair as he approached them.

"Yo, Hermi!"

Both technical Officers turned around to face Reuben as he strolled up to them and stopped about half a metre away. Both of them smiled and beamed at the little Galley Officer. Officer Armilia blushed a little when Reuben winked in her general direction. The pair were well-known for their flirtatious confrontations from time to time. Some had gotten the impression they liked each other. Officer Hermi however was one of the many Officers who got on with Reuben like a house on fire. The pair, along with some of the other crew members who weren't situated on the bridge, often had game nights where they sat and had fun little activities on their nights off. Gantu of course, never got involved. He was either too busy filling out paperwork, letting off some steam in the gym or training facilities, or watching TV in his room. He wasn't one to be known to be social with all of his crew members. But he was civil, just the same.

"Reuben, my main man!" Hermi grinned and shot a finger at Reuben slyly as Reuben did the same. "High-five!"

The two exchanged a high five and gave each other a quick friendly hug. Reuben then leant on the desk where the two were stationed and smirked at the Armadillo-looking alien as she gazed down and blushed.

"Hello Armilia," Reuben cooed slowly and flirtatiously. She chuckled rather girlishly in response to this.

"Hello Reuben."

Reuben then turned his head back to Hermi and his flirtatious expression was all but gone, and soon got replaced with a rather curious one. He turned his head slightly and then spoke again. His tone now matching his facial expression. "Say, Hermi, have you seen Zellah?"

"Chief Zettar?" He questioned, then shrugging his shoulders as he exchanged a quick glance with Armilia "no, she hasn't came up here. Why do you ask?"

"I wanna talk to her," Reuben explained as he stood upright again and placed his hat on his head "can you locate her for me?"

"Sure thing," Officer Hermi then pressed down on his computer screen which then flipped up with all of the known cameras located around the ship. As he flipped through each individual camera, Officer Hermi came across one of the security holding cell Zellious Glornack was situated in, the security Officers guarding him were making sure he was secure, though it was safe to say he was secure enough with the amount of electrically charged binders attached to his legs and arms. Reuben shifted his feet a moment as he awaited the location of Zellah Zettar to be shown on the camera feed. Officer Hermi continued to skip through each camera feed in order to pin-point her location. Within a minute or so of doing this, Reuben's attention was immediately caught.

"Got her!" Officer Hermi grinned pointing at the small screen with a hazy camera feed on it. He then looked at the screen closely and his eyes shifted awkwardly. "You may wanna be careful when you approach her though, Reuben."

Reuben's brow arose in confusion. She could not possibly be doing something dangerous... could she? Gantu was merely having a grumpy sulk as he usually did. But since none of the crew really knew Chief Zellah Zettar that well, they were not really aware on how or what she took her anger out upon. Reuben immediately took this as an opportunity to immediately get a response to his ever growing question in his mind. "Why?"

"Well..." Officer Hermi rubbed the back of his green neck and turned the screen off before continuing "she's in the weapons training facility. Looks like she's blasting her way through the self-defence drones."

Reuben smirked and folded his arms "knew I should have checked there first," he then patted his friends shoulder twice and grinned "thanks Hermi! I owe ya one!"

Officer Hermi grinned in return as Reuben turned to walk away "you still up for that game of Virtual Quasar Bowling tonight?"

"Yeah!" Reuben called back "you're on buddy! Same time, same place, same game!"

Reuben exited the bridge rather quickly, not forgetting his sandwich stack of course. He did not wish to wait around for Zellah to leave the facility and disappear once more. Not before he talked to her first at least. He couldn't deny he was really eager to speak to her face to face. Neither of them had said much to one another since their meeting. Well, she had referred to him as a _"mutant teddy bear"_ and mocked him for claiming he was _'indestructible'._ But hey, that was all water under the bridge, so-to-speak. He was willing to overlook that, in the hopes that she would be nice to him. Sure, she was being a bit bitchy towards Gantu, but then again, what was he doing to her? He could simply say that the pair were acting as bad as one another and put an end to the argument right there and then. But like most things, it wasn't that simple. Gantu would not give this up easily, and it was obvious that she wouldn't either. Therefore Reuben would have to be the peacekeeper. A job no one really wants when dealing with two disagreeing Shaeleks of the opposite sex.

As Reuben approached the weapons training facility, he stopped walking on the shiny metal surface, because with every step he took, his small claws on his feet made clanking sounds against the metal. He stopped breathing for a split second. _'Don't tell me I'm going mad?' _He thought to himself _'I swear I just heard a yell'_. But it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him. Nor was it him going mad. For after a split second after he mentally questioned this, yet another yell could be heard from behind the two metal doors leading into the training facility. And not only was there a yell, but also a rather large clanging sound which soon followed. Reuben stepped forward and typed in the code on the door lock in order for it to allow him access into the facility. Behind that door was Chief Zettar, and he wanted to talk to her.

"Authorisation code accepted," the computer spoke after Reuben typed it in "Access granted to Officer Reuben. Officer number, 6-2-5. Have a nice day!"

The door automatically opened and Reuben picked up his plate of sandwiches and proceeded to carry them into the weapons facility. It was a large area, often used for the training of new security crew members, or as practise for existing Officers. Gantu in particular had a habit of being a persistent goer in this facility. Reuben already described him as a trigger happy guy. And as he could recall, Gantu had the highest record on the simulation database. The room itself was a huge open arena. Above the arena in the far corner was a separate smaller room with a glass exterior where the manual operators were able to control simulations or watch them from a distance where they would be out of harm's way. Not every simulation had a need for manual operators. For the computer was voice activated and did as a crew member in charge of the simulation commanded. That was alien technology for you! But the Captain or any other crew members often used this side room to observe a simulation instead of being a part of the crossfire. This room could be accessed via a different floor on the upper decks of the ship. However, Reuben did not wish to go in this room, since he wanted to speak to Zellah face to face. So he would go in via the other ways of getting into this large open training bay. At either end of the facility were two doors that posed as the main access to the facility from two different ends of the ship. Reuben had entered it via the main corridor on the left hand side of the ship. The other end was dangerously close to the high security bay, and only the Captain, the Chief of security and the security crew themselves were allowed there. Yes, even Galley Officers had limits to where they could go around the ship. Though, he had become all too familiar with it from personal experience over the past 5 years.

He entered the weapons facility with ease. Something that would prove in vain for him. Reuben hummed a little tune as he stepped through the double doors that had just automatically opened for him, as he balanced his plate of remaining sandwiches between his hands and on his uniform. The little genetic experiment was grinning and beaming with enthusiasm... that was until something shifted his change of mood faster than light speed.

"GAAAAAH!" Reuben yelped as he noticed a greenish glow headed straight for him. He managed to jump out of the way within a split second of a giant plasma blast zooming past him at a rate his eyes struggled to match. His ears almost went mute as the green plasma collided with the metal wall interior of the facility which resulted in a rather large and deafening clang. Reuben's eyes then fell to the floor as he had lost one of his precious sandwiches as a result of his quick manoeuvre. But it provided him with some comfort that he wasn't that tuna sandwich which was now splattered messily on the floor before him. His eyes were still popping out of his skull as he gazed at the floor at the sandwich in some sort of alarm. Then he focussed his attentions on the part of the metallic wall which has just been blasted with green plasma. There was a tiny mark from what he could gather. But the metal used to structure the training facility was laser and plasma proof. It had to be for a facility such as this. Reuben's vision would remain frozen on the small mark on the wall for several more moments, until a sudden yell would grab his undivided attention.

"PULL!"

Reuben swiftly turned around at the sound of a very booming echo which came from a female voice nearby. Reuben tilted his head upward and his widened eyes rearranged themselves to something quite less bulging with horror. His mind was now a little less alert as it was moments before, and now, a slightly curious and awe-inspiring gaze took hold. There now stood the person he was looking for. Chief Zellah Zettar herself. And as soon as she ordered the word, the drones near the ceiling of the facility illuminated with all sorts of colours. Reuben watched with an eager curiosity as she was under fire from the weapon drones. She dodged and swerved gracefully with each beam of light which headed in her general direction. The occasional grunting sound from physical exertion escaping her lips. Zellah then proceeded to perform a counter strike on the drones by shooting two standard Galactic Armada blasters which she was holding in each of her sturdy hands. Each shot taken by the police Chief did not miss its target. Reuben was astounded by her precision and not missing a single drone she aimed at. How in the Andromeda Galaxy did she do it? Comparing her to Gantu, there was a lot of competition. Gantu himself was an excellent marksman. Over the years, Reuben had observed that Gantu's aim was becoming more and more precise. He used his blaster in every mission. This is why Reuben was left rather confused when Gantu told Zellah to leave hers on the shuttle on Meltrok. He had never done that before! However, he guessed it was for _'precaution purposes'_ because he was afraid of Zellah, after what his friend Rozcor had told him. Though, Reuben knew depriving her of her weapon wouldn't change anything. And just look at how it turned out! Now, as a result of all of that fiasco, Zellah and Gantu would refuse to speak to each other, and all eyes would turn on Reuben to be the peacekeeper. Oh, it was good to be him! Not...

Reuben stepped to the side and sat down in the corner of the facility against the wall. He placed his plate of remaining sandwiches beside him as he merely watched Zellah from afar. There were so many questions running through his mind regarding her. So many in fact, that he didn't know where to begin. He barely knew anything about her, or why she hated Gantu so much. He could understand her points to some degree, but Gantu was a nice guy in general. So why was she being such a bitch to him? Was it something to do with their culture? Reuben hadn't a clue. He was still rather baffled about anything to do with Gantu's home planet, since the big blubber butt rarely spoke of his home world or anything to do with it. Reuben had listened to Gantu blabber on about his childhood once or twice, but nothing remained in his mind for long. All he could recall from that conversation was the fact that Gantu had no family due to his parents being dead and that he left his home planet at a young age to join the Galactic Alliance. But he had only recently found out that Gantu was the only member of his species to do this. Never before had he even considered the thought of the Galactic Council having a thing against Shaelekar's population. But, then again, after the time he had spent there... he was glad to be away.

But what was Zellah's story? Who was she really? Reuben knew Gantu's story. He could practically read him like a book. But Zellah was a female of his species, the only one who he was now able to talk to. Gantu had already told him that the females of his species were a lot different to the males, but then again, that really referred to Cynta and the rest of her sort. Zellah was one on her own. So did this mean that she was just like Gantu, but a little bit tougher? That was what he was aiming to find out.

For several more minutes he remained silent and seated, out of the way as he watched the simulation continue on. Chief Zettar was formidable in the arena! She had obviously been one to practise a lot. For no one could pull off movements like that, without some serious hardcore training. Reuben merely sat aside and grabbed a sandwich from the centre of his stack and chewed on it heartily as he watched her from afar. She had not noticed him. Nor had the computer's sensors managed to pick him up. Strange, for a highly advanced computer simulation program... but fortunate nonetheless. He didn't wish her to know of his presence until she was finished at least. For he was having way too much fun just sitting back and watching her. Reuben then suddenly sat upright after he heard a familiar sound which signalled to him that this dramatic display was now over.

"Simulation status: complete!"

Zellah Zettar lowered her weapons and let out deep breaths of air as the computer system slowly shut itself down. She merely brushed herself off and stretched her arms, before proceeding to take a drink of water from a bottle on the floor at the other side of the arena. She still hadn't noticed Reuben, but he had noticed her. In a matter of speaking of course. He was thrilled by her display, so much so... that he couldn't help but do something rather stupid. Something which inevitably caught the female Shaelek's attentions almost instantly. He clapped.

"Woah! That was amazing!" He blurted out as his tiny paws clasped together eagerly. Zellah's attentions immediately fell to the floor area where Reuben was situated, and a small frown appeared on her features. Reuben also noticed this and slowly (and awkwardly) stopped clapping. She let out, what sounded to be like a grunt, and turned around fully as she took another drink from her bottle. She then placed the bottle down and crossed her arms, her eyes not leaving Reuben for a second.

"Don't tell me. Let me guess..." she began, her tone almost expecting. Reuben's brow shifted upright in confusion at this "the big guy sent you to apologise?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, he sat there shaking his head profusely like a simpleton as a low whine escaped his large agape mouth. She too shook her head, but now proceeded to walk over towards the wall where stacks of weapons were held and proceeded to place both blasters she had used back in their rightful place. And as she did this, she continued to speak, her tone now a lot more serious than before.

"Well, he's gonna have to try a little harder, than sending his little yellow messenger to apologise to me," she grasped one of the blasters and checked it carefully before placing it back. "I say, let him do it himself. If he thinks himself brave enough that is."

"Actually, he didn't send me here to apologise," Reuben finally spoke up as he arose from his seated position and began strolling over in her general direction. "As a matter of fact, he warned me to stay away from you."

The female Shaelek paused wither what she was doing and let out a hearty laugh before turning around to the approaching experiment and crouched down so that her head was now level to his height. "So you disobeyed him," She commented, her features softening and a smile forming on her face. She pointed at Reuben and grinned, much to his ease. "I like you."

"Why thank you," Reuben tilted his head slightly and beamed back at her "I like you too."

Zellah smiled down at the tiny genetic experiment with a very unusual facial expression Reuben himself had never seen her express before, until now. Sure, she had a similar look about her when he saw her speaking to the Major Jaarl back on the police port on Shaelekar, but that wasn't necessarily a smile. It seemed more forced for his sake rather than her own. Now, it seemed more, dare he say, genuine. But the smile was rather short lived, for it changed swiftly as she got up from her crouched position and proceeded to step away from the weapons stack. Reuben did not follow her by moving his body, but his eyes remained locked onto her for the entire time.

"So..." she continued, now changing the subject "what do you want?"

Reuben now stepped forward. He noticed her tone of voice as she asked him this question. It was neither harsh nor commanding. Actually, she seemed rather at ease with his presence. He guessed that she knew of his connections to Gantu, but it didn't seem to affect her in the slightest. And unlike Gantu, she wasn't moody or snappy... a little on-edge perhaps, but nowhere near as bad as Gantu. Hey, perhaps Chief Zellah Zettar was a very misunderstood individual. She seemed a lot less hostile than Reuben had imagined her to be. Then again, she was a lot more casual than Gantu when in the right company. He had seen this on Shaelekar, and it seemed that he was seeing it again at this present moment in time.

Reuben cleared his throat a little and stepped forward awkwardly, Zellah turned around and gazed down at him once more, much to the embarrassment of the tiny experiment. "W-well," he began before pausing a moment to think of how he should word the rest of that sentence. "I wanted to talk with you... no one has really said much to you since you came aboard and I... well I hoped that you would be willing to talk to me."

Her face looked surprised by his kind, yet awkward, response to her question. She obviously wasn't expecting that sort of reply. Zellah had assumed after that spat with Gantu on Meltrok, that everyone would take his side because, well, he was the Captain. It would also be an even bigger shock since Reuben was known to be the closest friend Gantu had. So the very question as to why he wanted to talk to her was obviously on her mind. But her surprised expression looked almost, admirable and endearing. The very thought of someone actually wanting to talk to her, brought out something rather strange from within her. Could it be, inside that rough outer shell, there was some element of feeling?

"Well," she breathed, surprise clearly evident in her tone. "I never expected that to arise."

"It's just," Reuben rubbed the back of his neck shyly. "I've never actually spoken to a female Shaelek before. And you seem really nice to talk to."

"Pffffft, hahaha!" Zellah laughed suddenly, causing Reuben to be rather bewildered yet again. "Me? Nice? Never heard anyone say that about me before now."

"Errrrrm," Reuben tried but failed to come up with a decent response to this. She was right, after all. Gantu could come up with every alien curse word under the Fupaku Nebula to call her, and he hadn't heard anyone else speak highly of her (other than the Officers on Shaelekar of course). But Reuben wanted to be nice to her. He still wasn't clear on her true character, but he was starting to break the ice with her. And if he could be successful with this, then perhaps he could find a way of getting her and Gantu to reconcile on their previous fight. He could try at the very least!

"Relax," she eased, now crouching, yet again, to his level. She gazed directly at him and poked him gently with one of her sturdy fingers. "I'm just not used to this whole _'being social'_ kind of thing. My job doesn't really require me to make friends. Actually," she then paused and smirked slightly before continuing "I've made a lot more enemies than friends, through the course of my career. But hey, someone's gotta do it."

"Oh, you're telling me!" Reuben added, his tone now a lot more at ease. "If I were to count the amount of bad guys who have threatened to kill us after we've arrested them... well, it would probably equate to the size of Gantu's ego." He then slyly looked at Zellah as he noted "which is apparently _'the size of the Whirlpool Galaxy'_ as I heard from a certain someone..."

"Oh," she chuckled, now rather nervously. Obviously recalling where he was coming from. "You heard me say that?"

"Yeah," Reuben said rather heartily "but don't worry, I agree with you one hundred percent! He does have an ego the size of the Whirlpool Galaxy! Especially when he's trying to be something he's not."

"So," she smirked, a curious tint now sparkling in her purple eyes "what ever brought on such an unusual paring?" She noticed Reuben's brow shift up rather erratically after she said this. So she felt like she should elaborate further on the subject. "I mean, it's not every day I see a male Shaelekean all 'buddy-buddy' with a tiny genetic experiment. Especially one so close in similarity, and even creator, to the one who cost him his job several years ago!"

"Wait," Reuben paused, sticking a finger up in confusion "you know of my cuz? You know of Stitch?"

It was now her turn to look at him in a baffled manner. "What's a '_Stitch'_?"

"My cousin, 626," Reuben explained further, now relieving her of the momentary perplexity. Obviously she was unaware of Lilo's naming of his cousin. But in all fairness, he could understand why. She was, after all, an alien from a planet where Earth's news and culture was not well known. "You know, the experiment that escaped Gantu's custody all those years ago and made him look like a right blubber-bun!"

"I remember," she turned away a moment before repositioning her knelt position "many people didn't know how to react to it on Shaelekar, as I recall..."

"How so?" Reuben queried rather eagerly. She shrugged her shoulders and placed a hand on the cold floor as she leant her full body weight against it casually.

"He's probably told you tons about Shaelekar, so I'll keep it short," she then paused for a brief moment before continuing. "We have a very tough system on our home world, and if a prisoner escapes custody, the person who was in charge of that convict is often ridiculed and put on public display as being the biggest doodoo-head in the Creblock quadrant. Until they either quit, or another guy screws up and takes the attention away. It's a pain, I know, I don't agree with it at all, really. But that's how things work there, so we have to roll with it."

"First off," Reuben began in response, pointing a finger up "Gantu has scarcely told me anything about Shaelekar, so I did not know that." He then breathed in and dared say something else in his reply "And secondly, many people, including Gantu, are under the impression that you would probably love doing that. Since you like beating guys up and all that..."

"What makes you think that?" She lifted herself up slightly, astonishment now evident in her features. Reuben shrugged again and her facial features soon softened into a slight smirk/grimace. "Oh, I see..." she then decided to stand up and pace about slightly as she explained herself a little clearer to the genetic mutation sat before her. "Let me make myself clear here," She soon paused and her face looked rather puzzled, she raised a finger to try and figure something out. "Ru-? Reub? Reuby?"

"Reuben!" He corrected her, smirking slightly. She chuckled at this and gazed down at him with a small mischievous glint in her eyes and a grin plastered on her smooth grey face.

"Oh... I liked Reuby better."

"Reuby, is considered a girl's name on countless planets!" He added, a hint of defence in his tone. "Reuben is a boy's name, and happens to be the name of one of my all-time favourite sandwiches." After he said this, he mentally scolded himself and shook his head quickly. He wanted to know more about her, not explain his chosen name to her! Moments after he last spoke, Reuben decided to try and get her attentions back onto what she was about to say, before she briefly forgot his name. "Anyway, you were saying?"

"Ah, yes," she smiled and then continued to speak, her tone now more sincere than compared to before "you all think I love beating the Blitznak out of guys..." she then paused and looked down at him as he was hesitantly nodding slightly. She simply shrugged and shook her head before responding again. "Understandable. But that is not entirely true. I only fight any of those who are willing to take me on. I never fight my own crew, and I certainly NEVER fight a criminal unless they have it coming, or if it is completely necessary. But as luck would have it on Shaelekar, most of the criminals are just as stubborn as both me and Captain Gantu, therefore I have no choice but to fight them in order to take them down."

"You know," Reuben interjected as he joined her in her pacing "Gantu is like that too. But he's more lethal with his blasters rather than his fists. Though, his temper and his fists often have issues with anyone or anything that gets in his path."

"Welcome to my species!" She cheered rather sarcastically. "We're all temperamental and have SERIOUS attitude problems. Which also matches us in our brawn and toughness. Captain Gantu is the typical male Shaelek in my eyes. Cocky, got a humongous ego, thinks himself superior to me, thinks everything is competition and most of all, doesn't know what he's actually doing!"

"Really?" Reuben questioned using a very sly tone of voice. "So Gantu is just your typical male on Shaelekar?"

"In terms of personality, yes," she replied calmly "but on a toughness level, he's a little watered down. He wouldn't manage with many of the Officers I work with on a day-to-day basis. Heck," she laughed out loud "some of them are worse than me! With the way they treat their convicts, I'm surprised someone hasn't died under their charge!" Reuben did not respond to this, instead his tiny eyes widened beyond their normal limits and his two buck teeth stuck out of his unhinged mouth rather unnaturally. Zellah noticed his slightly worried and horrified stance and decided to crouch down to his level once again, she nudged him teasingly and beamed in his general direction "Tell ya what," she continued "I'll give you an explanation about why you think I am _'so tough'_"_._ Reuben merely nodded to this and she began to make it all clear to him. Perhaps some of his questions about her and Gantu's home world would finally be answered.

"You see Reuben, I come from a male dominant planet. Throughout my career, I was treated as inferior, because I was a female. On Shaelekar, the males have their own job roles and so do the females. Each are completely separate and different." She then paused and gazed directly at him "getting me so far?" He nodded almost instantly upon hearing this. Content with his rapid response, Zellah decided to continue with her tale about her home planet. She was finally explaining something completely new which Gantu had not mentioned previously, since he was so secretive about it all for some bizarre reason. "The females on Shaelekar do not fight. It is not in our nature. Surprising since one of our highly worshipped Goddess' is a female, but that is irrelevant. Us women are expected to do our education, take cooking, sewing, manufacturing or any other basic task as a course in our final year of college, graduate and get a job before we go off and find a mate to marry and have children with. Before initially becoming stay at home mothers. Meanwhile, the males are usually forced to work for the Shaelekean army or, the most popular choice, the Shaelek police force, by their pushy parents upon the completion of their education. Both are easy to get in, but not so easy to stay..."

"Wow," Reuben commented, his head looking at the floor in surprise. "Your planet sounds so..."

"Dominant? Controlling? Authoritarian?" Zellah added questioningly. Reuben gazed back up at Zellah and briefly nodded. He noticed that she was smiling again, this time rather (in some ways) sadly, and Reuben could now understand why. No wonder why Gantu was hesitant to go back there... when he said they were authoritarian, Reuben could never imagine that they were so darn serious. Like that, anyway! Heck, it sounded like their whole system was ran by a bunch of sexist control freaks! It made Reuben thankful that he and Gantu worked for the Galactic Alliance, where all genders and species were treated as equals. In some ways, he pitied Zellah, but in others he did not. She had obviously defied their system and gained the respect the rest of her gender could not. That was the unique point about her. She acted like a male, but deep down, she was still a female.

"So that's why we barely saw any females on the police port!" Reuben remarked, only to receive a nod from the female Shaelekean.

"Yes," she responded bluntly, her face now showing a more disappointed and glum side which Reuben had never seen before. "Sadly the vast majority of my gender have put us all down to a very limited level. The men all expect us to serve them, and only them. And our parents are just as bad. The fathers mainly focus on their son's future, whilst the mothers usually focuses on their daughter's. I myself was not very fortunate to have a decent and understanding mother..."

"Why?" Reuben edged forward slightly, now extremely curious to hear more.

"She made me take a subject I detested," Zellah explained dully. But then a strange glint appeared in her eyes and a very small smirk appeared on her lips. Reuben questioned himself at this point. Was she in amusement at this? "But I showed her, that I was not a child to be meddled with."

"Why?" He questioned again.

"Well," she turned back to him and used a single finger to stroke the top of his head teasingly "let's just say, I... defied her wishes into taking a sewing degree, and took advanced weaponry instead. I mean, come on! Can you even imagine me sewing police uniforms for the rest of my miserable life?"

Reuben shrugged his tiny shoulders and shook his head. "I can safely say, that thought never crossed my mind."

"Precisely my point. Advanced weaponry was something I was always interested in. It was a male dominant course, but I somehow got in," she explained, turning away again "and one of my friends in the sewing course covered for me as a favour, and I didn't tell my mother until a month after I dropped out of her chosen option. Boy, you should have seen her face!"

The tiny experiment shifted closer to her excitedly and grinned up at his new companion curiously. He needed to be humoured at this point. For he was dying to know what happened next. "How did she react?"

"Well," Zellah shifted her head to its side and made a slight grimace "she was not impressed. She did try and get me to quit, but she knew I wouldn't. She claimed I had too much of my father's spirit in me to do such a thing like that." The female Chief then let out a small soft chuckle, reminiscing on that very thought. "My father was the one who actually supported me all the way through it! It's a rare thing for a father to approve of his daughter not following the custom of marriage and childbirth. But then again, my father was not like most of the males. He truly cared, and loved me."

Reuben noticed her face drop after she said this. He gazed down at his feet awkwardly, starting to feel the tension rise up out of nowhere. He still didn't know much about this strange and unique female Chief, therefore he couldn't tell if she was emotionally hurt or just trying to keep her conversation to a minimum. Trying to avoid causing any conflict or awkward silence, Reuben then decided to speak again. This time, not as enthusiastic than compared to before.

"So," he asked, his tone rather cautious and apprehensive "where are they now?"

"Dead," she simply put, her voice now incredibly soft and her tone and expression almost distant. Reuben grimaced a little again. So much for trying to not make it any more awkward. Something instantly flashed back into Reuben's mind at that very moment. Something which he hadn't considered thinking about in years. Back during the three year period of their 'experiment hunting' days for Hämsterviel, Gantu had a small phase of being super depressed. Whilst trying to capture experiment 344, later called Dupe by Lilo, Gantu opened up to Reuben and told him all about his early life. During this time, Reuben sat and listened, and of course, mocked him for being such a _"boring failure"_. However, there was something which stood out amongst the other jargon his friend blurted out in his moody auto-biography. His parents were also dead. His mother had a poor health and died not long after he graduated college, and his father died shortly afterwards of depression. Perhaps, a simple guess from Reuben, as a result of the loss of his wife. And though Reuben was aware of Gantu's attitude, he still wasn't sure on how he and his species handled the subject of death. Judging by everything else he had seen portrayed by the Shaelekean species, he wouldn't be surprised if they were more angry than depressed. Since anger was a lot more of a favourable emotion than hurt, in Gantu's case at least. Reuben merely rubbed the back of his neck and decided to clear his throat awkwardly before finally coming up with a decent reason to speak again.

"That is something else you and Gantu share in common," He remarked in an awkward half chuckle. Though, after he noticed Zellah's face, he almost immediately regretted saying it like that.

"Please," she shook her head and stood up "I'd rather not have anything in common with him."

"But, why?" Reuben followed as she walked over to the wall. "He ain't all that bad you know... sure he's a real stick in the mud, and he's probably even more so now that he knows that you saved the royal family on your home planet... but-"

She quickly turned around and shot him a very surprised stare as she cut him off in mid-sentence. "How did y-?" She then paused and placed a hand on her hip "let me guess... he's been watching those old reports on my past professional history?"

"Yeah," Reuben stepped closer, his pushy and curious nature kicking in once again. "But why didn't you or that Commander guy ever tell us? It must have been a huge honour to do such a thing like that! I bet you kicked that assassinator's ass when it came to the verdict at the trial, eh?" He laughed, not noticing Zellah's expression turn rather lifeless.

"Reuben," she spoke, her tone very light and on-edge "I'd rather not talk about that fiasco with Emperor Egthor the Third's attempted assassination. We don't speak of it much on Shaelekar... and we have a good reason not to." She then gazed back down to him and her facial expressions told him everything. She looked almost... ashamed? Disheartened? Sad? "That one thing made my career better, yes. But the actions I was forced to take after that event took place... well... you may not view me as such a great person."

"I'm sure I'll think no such thing!" Reuben blurted, then realizing the look on Zellah's face turn even more pale and cold. _'Shut your damn mouth before you do any more damage you silly experiment!_' His mind mentally screamed at him. He raised a finger to continue speaking but couldn't form anything to say. Instead, after moments of thought and observation, Reuben decided to back down and change the subject. The tiny experiment's eyes then found themselves gazing five feet away from where he was stood. There, in the corner, was his stack of sandwiches, still sat atop the plate which was placed down where he originally sat not too long ago. Reuben smiled and then quickly ran over to pick up the plate and rush back (careful not to trip or cause any of his sandwiches to fall) to where Zellah was stood. "But hey," Reuben continued, his tone now really cheerful as he brought his sandwich tower over towards the female Shaelek. "Let's drop all of that stuff. Wanna have a sandwich?"

The Chief of security was certainly taken aback by his cheery and kind demeanour. However, she couldn't help but find it endearing. There was something about the tiny genetic mutation that she couldn't help but love. He had such a quirky nature about him. Not at all anything like his taller, gruff companion. But yet again, most superior Officers did not like to show any signs of weakness. Gantu in particular. But she also had this tendency. Heck, everyone but Reuben probably thought her the rudest and self-conceited bitch on the whole damn ship! And she would probably keep this reputation until she went back to her original job back on Shaelekar.

"You haven't got raspberry jam, have you?" She questioned, her eyes sparkling with intrigue. "It's always been my favourite. Ever since I was a child."

"Hmmm, let's see," Reuben placed the plate down and began searching through his stack of sandwiches like they were files in a filing cabinet. "Ahh!" He pulled a single sandwich with a reddish gooey interior and handed it over to Zellah.

"Thank you Reuby," she beamed, winking down at him jokingly before eating the sandwich he gave her.

"Watch it lady!" Reuben pointed up, a mischievous glare now appearing on his small face. "If you keep calling me that, I may just have to come up with a nickname for you."

"You're too late there," she told him "I already have one."

Reuben's hands fell to his sides defeated and he watched as she finished off the remains of his jammy creation. _'Who would have thought that her favourite sandwich would be raspberry jam?'_ He thought to himself _'this woman never seizes to amaze me!'_

"Well... go on?"

"The guys on the police port used to call me 'Zelly-Zet'," she chuckled "but nowadays I rarely hear that. Probably because they're all too afraid of me to say it. Though, my friend Jaarl calls me 'Zel' a lot!"

Reuben picked up another sandwich and decided to take a bite out of it himself. He grinned up at Zellah and the pair exchanged a very friendly gesture. "Zel it is!"

* * *

><p>Authors note: So, damn, long! Sorry this was not my intention to make this chapter so long! Actually, it was my intention to make it shorter. However, everything in this chapter was needed and necessary. Hope you guys enjoyed this and have a clearer view on Zellah's character now. There will be a lot more revealed about her throughout the course of this story, but her relationship with Reuben in this chapter was crucial for later events. Thanks for reading guys! Feedback is always appreciated, and I shall update soon!<p> 


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